startupi

One of the coolest things about events is that you can meet so many interesting people in one place at the same time (and I’m not necessarily talking about the lineup of speakers).

A cool thing about Web 2.0 and digital/social media is that it provides a series of interesting metaphors.

And an interesting thing about defining a product is identifying a clientele.

And look what  can happen when these three things intersect:

A few days ago I ran into Renato Shirakashi at an event in São Paulo. He’s a consultant to Social Media Week SP, and a web entrepreneur. I heard a new metaphor from him that made me think about how to make business opportunities a success.

I asked him how Scup was going and what he was seeing in terms of his professional trajectory and the maturing of the social media market in Brazil. It seems like every day there’s another event, competition, successful case study, tool, or concept relating to social media. I wanted to know if Scup’s plans to commercialize social media monitoring were showing a ready market; whether this was just buzz, the wave of the moment, or a real opportunity.

Shirakashi replied: “I started working with the web in 2000, and launched Via6 in 2005. We had a lot of Brazilian startups growing in that era, with the rise of Web 2.0. Then there was a period of stabilization, and now I’m seeing a new growth of business again.” So there you have it, a view of the market from someone who was there before this wave started.

Okay, theory proven:  Web 2.0 (participative internet, social media) has brought on a new breed of businesses trying to find success. But how are things going with Scup? Has it become a good platform and product? Are agencies and businesses adopting it?

Shirakashi cited some clients and resumed the game: “Social media is here to stay and a lot of people are making money. With Scup, we are not chasing after gold, but selling the shovels and picks to those who are in the race, mining their own success.”

I’ve haven’t heard this metaphor in a while, and the point here is not to talk about Scup’s success or to promote it. What’s interesting is how some people know very clearly how to position themselves, with a product designed for a well-defined clientele. This little metaphor serves as a big insight for those having difficulties going from their technology to the market, without having developed a product first.

Good luck to all! May your good products protect us from fool’s gold!