skell

Ryan raises some decent points, but I have to side with Paul on this one. If you want to -maximize- your startup's chance for success, moving out to SV (or other big hubs) would be the most logical choice. This doesn't mean your startup won't have a shot elsewhere, but he's just calling it as he sees it. What yields the best results is typically what people want to hear when it comes to getting advice.

More to add to this topic from yesterday:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/09/13/apparently-old-people-a...

I'm not surprised really. It's a hard audience to win over.

This article wasn't referring to traffic, rather accounts created. While it did cite inactive accounts, it didn't touch on spam accounts.

As far as legit users moving over to Facebook, I speak from personal experience with my friends and colleagues. That statement was more personal opinion and speculation, rather than fact. Sorry if that caused confusion.

I grow tired of people comparing MySpace's 'user' numbers to Facebook and other networks. There are so many spam/fake accounts on MySpace, yet they are reported in their member totals? (Have you guys even come across a spam Facebook account?)

Even if Facebook doesn't hit 200 million in the next year, they are surely taking away many legit users from MySpace and I think that's what matters most...not how many countless spam accounts they can add to their totals.

I've always been curious to see if social networks geared toward the older crowd will ever catch on. My concern with this is that while there may be as many internet users in the 55 year old range as the 18-34 crowd, will they be willing to invest a similar amount of time on these networks?

Something tells me that these people won't rely on these services as much as the younger crowd, but I could be wrong...

Depending on your age and current lifestyle, saving up beforehand makes a world of difference. I currently own a house and have a very comfortable job (which I would have to leave). Fortunately, I have saved up for the obligatory 6 month emergency fund, which I may dip into if my team is accepted into the program.

If you have decent savings, then great. Planning is always key, but taking risks are where people make themselves in life...