How Do You Figure Out When To Quit?
A website where users could gather to record and share visual information -- no, it's not Pinterest, but rather a site launched in 2009 called Image Spark.
Founded by the digital services company Teehan+Lax, Image Spark amassed 1,152,487 images, 21,996 moodboards and 48,947 user accounts in it's four years of existence. Recently, however, founder Jon Lax announced in a surprisingly candid blog post that they would be shutting down the service at the end of February 2014.
His post is full of insights for entrepreneurs, especially those who wish to work in the technology sector.
The History
Jon Lax about the genesis of Image Spark: "In September of 2008, one of our designers, Greg Washington, began discussing a frustration he had. When starting any design project he would assemble a collection of images. These images are the foundational design research he would do before opening Photoshop or sketching. Over years of projects he collected dozens of folders of loose images on his hard drive."
While designers usually store their visual inspiration on loose folders on their hard drive, the creators of ImageSpark could see there would a social potential in groups of designers sharing images and moodboards on the web.
They bootstrapped their idea and launched a site called Image Spark in 2009. Here are some of the lessons they shared:
Watch Out for Distractions
The success of the project management software Basecamp out of the services business 37 Signals convinced the Teehan+Lax team that they could turn a promising side project into a valuable products business.
In Lax's final analysis, that was a mistake. "The “Field of Dreams” approach to product development… build it and they will come. Why did we believe 6 weeks after launch we would know whether to sacrifice part of our services business for Image Spark?"
Plan Wisely
Caught up in a flurry of inspiration, the Image Spark team was at first unclear how to monetize. Writes Lax: "We discussed different business models, including display advertising, premium features and membership. We thought we had an idea that could be commercially viable. But how would we know what to invest in it? Should we pull people off client work? Should we take some of the cash we had saved as a business and hire additional people?"
Are you intimidated by numbers and financial planning? Here are some tips on financial problems.
Scale Intelligently
The perils of multitasking quickly became apparent to these entrepreneurs: "We did the worst thing you can do for a product: we left it alone. Over the past 3 years we’ve made only a few incremental updates to Image Spark, all on the backend."
Further, they didn't plan to scale up: "There was never enough evidence that we should invest in it and so we just left it out there. It cost relatively little to keep open (about $2500 in server costs) and some people use it. But the product has become, what Joe Olsen at Phenomblue calls “a ‘zombie idea’ not dead, yet not alive either.”
Know When to Quit
The co-founders of Dabble faced a similar crossroads. As an experiment, they decided to be totally honest with themselves, their users & the world for 30 days in an experiment called "30 Days of Honesty." A worthwhile experiment for any entrepreneurs, here's what you can learn.
Founded by the digital services company Teehan+Lax, Image Spark amassed 1,152,487 images, 21,996 moodboards and 48,947 user accounts in it's four years of existence. Recently, however, founder Jon Lax announced in a surprisingly candid blog post that they would be shutting down the service at the end of February 2014.
His post is full of insights for entrepreneurs, especially those who wish to work in the technology sector.
The History
Jon Lax about the genesis of Image Spark: "In September of 2008, one of our designers, Greg Washington, began discussing a frustration he had. When starting any design project he would assemble a collection of images. These images are the foundational design research he would do before opening Photoshop or sketching. Over years of projects he collected dozens of folders of loose images on his hard drive."
While designers usually store their visual inspiration on loose folders on their hard drive, the creators of ImageSpark could see there would a social potential in groups of designers sharing images and moodboards on the web.
They bootstrapped their idea and launched a site called Image Spark in 2009. Here are some of the lessons they shared:
Watch Out for Distractions
The success of the project management software Basecamp out of the services business 37 Signals convinced the Teehan+Lax team that they could turn a promising side project into a valuable products business.
In Lax's final analysis, that was a mistake. "The “Field of Dreams” approach to product development… build it and they will come. Why did we believe 6 weeks after launch we would know whether to sacrifice part of our services business for Image Spark?"
Plan Wisely
Caught up in a flurry of inspiration, the Image Spark team was at first unclear how to monetize. Writes Lax: "We discussed different business models, including display advertising, premium features and membership. We thought we had an idea that could be commercially viable. But how would we know what to invest in it? Should we pull people off client work? Should we take some of the cash we had saved as a business and hire additional people?"
Are you intimidated by numbers and financial planning? Here are some tips on financial problems.
Scale Intelligently
The perils of multitasking quickly became apparent to these entrepreneurs: "We did the worst thing you can do for a product: we left it alone. Over the past 3 years we’ve made only a few incremental updates to Image Spark, all on the backend."
Further, they didn't plan to scale up: "There was never enough evidence that we should invest in it and so we just left it out there. It cost relatively little to keep open (about $2500 in server costs) and some people use it. But the product has become, what Joe Olsen at Phenomblue calls “a ‘zombie idea’ not dead, yet not alive either.”
Know When to Quit
The co-founders of Dabble faced a similar crossroads. As an experiment, they decided to be totally honest with themselves, their users & the world for 30 days in an experiment called "30 Days of Honesty." A worthwhile experiment for any entrepreneurs, here's what you can learn.