Our clients are often in the start-up phase of their business. They are focused on finding a market fit for their products and services.
While Meta, AKA Facebook, is not a start-up, its focus on the metaverse is a real-time and visible example of a company that is advancing a product offering that is still looking for a market fit.
Finding Market Fit
We have discussed this on this site before, but the start-up phase for a business is focused on developing a minimum viable product and trying to find a market fit for the product. This is the stage where expenses are high and revenues are low or non-existent.
The business may have an idea of what problem it intends to solve and it uses its proposed solution to gather information from consumers and/or end users. The goal is to gather the data needed to show series A investors that the opportunity is worth investing in.
The Metaverse is a Minimum Viable Product (or May Be One Soon)
This brings us back to Meta and the metaverse. News reports suggest that the technology is squarely in the minimum viable product stage or nearing that stage. Recent articles mocking Meta about this are in the news.
What we should see in the coming months or maybe years, is Meta reaching out to consumers and gathering feedback and data. This information will be used to dramatically change the product that is currently being offered. The end product may be nothing like what is being offered today.
What to Watch For With Meta
This is where success starts. I think what we are all waiting to see is whether Meta, or Facebook, is too large to take the feedback and information learned in order to succeed.
We see this a lot with smaller start-ups. The founders are dead set on a product or offering that has little market demand. Instead of pulling the plug on the project or taking the feedback and information and changing the solution, they plow ahead. Rarely does this work. Projects like this go on until the founder’s resources or interest are depleted and then they just die.
Meta has a lot of cash at its disposal. So the other aspect of this project is watching to see whether its sizable and sustained investment can produce a different outcome. Put another way, is Meta big enough to sidestep the typical start-up rules?