The non obvious keys to successfully launching a social app

…as observed by today’s launch of The List App (TLA)

• Identify a behavior that lots of people already do and make it public and permanent.

aka: Kottke’s law…TLA recognized the trend set off by Buzzfeed and others that people love consuming lists, and lots of people also create their own — the opportunity was in recognizing that lists could be a social activity, there was just a lack of a central place to create/share them. Many list apps had been created before, but they all went at the problem from a UI angle instead of a community/social one.

• Enable the creation of a unique type of content that can be networked.

A filtered photo, a clever quip…what new element are you adding to the Internet ecosystem — and how can it move through the apps community? Being able to follow/relist/save content on TLA helps to elevate the previously static bit of content.

• Assemble a list of interesting people that others want to follow

TLA knocked this one out of the park. Even as an early adopter when I connected my Twitter account, pretty much all of the most interesting people (and many unexpected celebrity surprises) already had an account available. Note — this takes time! Reaching out to people, seeing if they actually use the app, iterating until they do, etc…Seems like the app has been in private beta for at least a half a year. How many startups have that type of patience to gather an interesting community?

• Make content consumption as low friction as possible

The way lists are previewed on the home feed is subtly brilliant. Just the first few items are shown, long descriptions are hidden — making the content feel approachable and easily consumable.

• Offer consumable bits of information — that is also easily expandable

Lists by their nature are bite-sized information snacks. But the ability to add longer descriptions, photos, locations, etc…mean that complexity and depth are available if you want it.

• Sweat the details!

Given the long time in beta, I’m guessing TLA underwent a ton of revision. Would love to learn more about how the product evolved over time.

What else am I missing? @kaz with suggestions.

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