I co-teach a class on entrepreneurship at University of Washington. Yesterday's class was on social marketing. I'll make the following anecdotal observations:
- Craigslist still rules in my opinion -- hands down it's the most impressive company next to google online. 30 employees and over 100MM in revenue from approx 5 cities.
- Twitter -- has the most potential to change the web. BUT -- many people don't get it, don't use it, try it and stop. What makes Twitter interesting is despite these things -- it's moved the web into real time and has the potential to really change marketing online.
- Facebook -- 5 years in and they still don't really have a business model. They spend 150MM per year and are just reaching cash flow break even. I think they're secret sauce should be in the virtual goods area and not in advertising.
