Second Life is the new Friendster, which was the new Napster
March 16, 2008
Add Second Life to the list of companies that created a new craze, defined a new phenomenon, jumped the S curve of technical innovation, got a ton of hype, became a household name, and then went on to make no real money for anyone. CEO Philip Rosedale resigned amid turmoil in Second Life parent Linden Labs. Finally, it seems that people have caught on that “life” in Second Life is just plain boring. Hopefully, IBM chief Sam Palmisano gets the memo.
In recent years, Friendster made social networking a worldwide mainstream activity, became the hottest company in America, and then graduated to become the butt of business jokes by the end of 2003.
Before Friendster, Napster began the p2p craze, got incredibly huge, got sued, and sued again, reinvented itself, and eventually sort of puttered around.
What do all three companies have in common? They all spurned large buyout offers that would have made everyone involved a lot of money. They all thought that they had more steak than sizzle, but they could have sold for big numbers because of the sizzle.
Heck, they could have been like Skype or Bebo or YouTube (early risers, early sellers)! But instead, Second Life is looking like it will be the precursor to Joost (another over-hyped and fast falling startup implosion waiting to happen).
Lesson: if you can sell early and sell high, do it 
Entry Filed under: Downers, Predictions. Tags: bebo, entrepreneurship, friendster, joost, napster, philip rosedale, second life, skype, startups, youtube.
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