However, I think it is important to keep in mind the context of my original post. An entrepreneur approached me about building a “better twitter” but was at a loss to answer even basic questions about his business model. It is also important to point out that he wasn’t building something for the sake of exploration, he truly wanted to build a business out of it, and made no bones about it.

In this case, I think my advice to him was very sound. Don’t decide to “start a business”, and then decide to try to build a “better Twitter” because you can – anything can be improved upon. That’s easy. Build a “better Twitter” because you’ve innovated the business model.

“Foolishness” is good – but foolishness doesn’t mix well with venture capital (and even cash-flow in most cases.) Most especially so in an overly conservative market like Atlanta.

Failure is a part of success – but an entrepreneur should fail trying to innovate the business, not the technology. The net is littered with the remnants of a ton of really nifty technologies.

Hope that makes sense. No, I don’t like Twitter, and that is a personal nitpick. But that really was only an aesthetic point of my post … plus it gave me something to rant about in my opening.

You can replace the word “Twitter” in my post, and my advice would still be the same.

Cheers.
Scott