10 million in 10 weeks what stanford learned building facebook apps a stanford course during fall...
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10 Million in 10 WeeksWhat Stanford Learned Building Facebook Apps
A Stanford Course during Fall 2007
Dave McClureRob Fan
Graphing Social Patterns: March 2008
Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
10 Million in 10 Weeks Total Installed Users: 20M+• 5 apps @ 1M+ users• 10 apps @ 100k users• 20 apps @ 5k users
Total Daily Active Users (DAU): 925k6 apps with ~ 100k DAU10 apps with > 10k DAU19 apps with > 500 DAU
6 Apps in Facebook Top 100
Top Apps (according to Adonomics): ~ $10M
Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Curriculum (Alpha Version)
3 Apps (!)
1. Virality
2. Engagement
3. Education-focused
Hoping to leverage . . .
• Huge reading list
• Metrics-based grading
• Psychology of technology
Expecting 20-40 students...Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
...120 showed upContact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Every class was exciting and surprisingContact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Students drove us forwardContact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Initial Success!!!Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Success StoriesContact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Students come together outside of class...Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
10 Million in 10 Weeks Total Installed Users: 20M+• 5 apps @ 1M+ users• 10 apps @ 100k users• 20 apps @ 5k users
Total Daily Active Users (DAU): 925k6 apps with ~ 100k DAU10 apps with > 10k DAU19 apps with > 500 DAU
5 Apps in Facebook Top 100
Top Apps (according to Adonomics): ~ $10M
Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
BayCHI Student PresentationContact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Aftermath
• $500,000 - $1,000,000+ revenue generated since September
• At least 3 companies formed
• At least 2 companies acquired
• More job offers than students can handle
• Dan drops out of school to work with Rob and 3 other students from the class
• Teach the class again soon
Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
More SuccessesContact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Learnings from Stanford's FB Course
#1. It's never too late to create a winning app
• When we launched course, over 6000 Facebook apps existed.
• 10 weeks later, our students had 6 apps in the top 100
Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Learnings from Stanford's FB Course
#2. Simplicity & clarity are key to app success
• Apps need to be easily understood (value prop)
• Apps need to be easy to use
The wrong direction:• Clever names• Lots of features
Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Learnings from Stanford's FB Course
#3. Speed & flexibility in launch & iterations
• Many crummy trials beat deep thinking
• Flexibility beats quality
Deadly: Getting too attached to one app idea.
Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Learnings from Stanford's FB Course
#4. Community cooperation leads to success
• Students helped others a lot
• Sharing code, tips, insights . . . all were present in course.
Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Learnings from Stanford's FB Course
#5. Individual opinions about app are worthless
• Don't be swayed by one person's opinion.
• Just get the app out there and see what happens . . .
Despite everyone's supposed "brilliance" . . . • Often what seemed like a killer idea didn't work.
• Sometimes what seemed stupid worked very well.
Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Learnings from Stanford's FB Course
#6. Copying success is a cheap/fast way to succeed
• Novelty isn't the best approach to apps
• If you're desperate for a win, just copy something that's working
Flipside: If your app is doing well, expect imitators.
Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Learnings from Stanford's FB Course
#7. Metrics do matter, but today's tools are too weak
• Of course, instrument your apps to track viral aspects
• No one offers a winning metrics package (yet) -- not even GA
Our experience: Students often had to tweak GA and also create their own metrics tools.
Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
Learnings from Stanford's FB Course
#8. You CAN learn to create a winning app
• Success with FB apps isn't luck or magic
• Many Stanford teams succeeded
• Teams who failed at first later created excellent apps (like Oregon Trail)
Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]
10 Million in 10 WeeksWhat Stanford Learned Building Facebook Apps
A Stanford Course during Fall 2007
Dave McClureRob Fan
Contact: BJ Fogg - [email protected]