The three two co-founders of the prediction market consulting firm Inkling Markets would probably agree with Guy Kawasaki’s advice, I guess:
9. “We expect that there will be competition because we’re not working on a get-rich-quick gimmick. This is a real business that we think is going to be big.†This is music to an investor’s ears: a big market that has competition beats the hell out of dominating a market that doesn’t exist.
10. “It’s a race, and we’re going to work like hell to reach escape velocity. That’s the bottom line.†Whether you realize it yet or not, this is as good as it gets. What makes a company defensible is that it has scaled to the point where it’s achieved critical mass and has become synonymous with a market (online video: YouTube), sector (rental DVDs: NetFlix), or task (search: Google). And this achievement renders all the other bull shiitake you can fabricate essentially impotent if not downright laughable.
Addendum: Russell Andersson, the VP of real-money prediction exchange HedgeStreet, would agree too.
