Unblocking the Network Effect

A few weeks ago, we quietly invited a small group of users to try our Android beta. The biggest unexpected surprise from inviting a test group of Android users was not the bump in Android signups, but that launching our Android beta triggered a large spike in iOS signups.

Today, we’re launching Dasher on Android, and have been spending a lot of time reflecting on the significance of that network effect.

Multi-platform seems like a good, obvious idea for any startup, but it’s easy to underestimate just how absolutely necessary it is for a social product. It’s not a nice to have. A platform like ours isn’t complete and capable of reaching even a shred of its potential without it.

Imagine, hypothetically, that you bump into a few friends at an out-of-town conference. Dasher has particularly good group location-sharing features, web and phone chat, everything that makes it an ideal conference back-channel — and, well, let’s say you work at Dasher, so you push your friends to jump on to stay in touch. But you hit a snag: Two in your group can’t get onto Dasher because they are on unsupported phones — so none of you do, and you’re left slumming it in some other messaging platform for the duration of the conference(and beyond).

Organic growth is built on millions of situations like this.

Social products have value in the features they provide, but the real value comes from who in your network is using it. Not having a single important user on your platform can bring an entire group of users to a dead stop.

So, yeah, it’s a hidden cost when building a successful social product. Without spending large quantities of time gunning for near-universal access, you’re quarantining yourself to a smaller segment of your potential userbase than it may seem.

Some people believe that WhatsApp’s secret formula to capturing the market was support of low-end feature phones or availability in 35 languages. We think they’re right: The consequences of ubiquitous availability go well beyond just emerging markets. By exposing WhatsApp to that relatively niche group of users, they unlock entirely new groups of people, many on more common platforms and languages.

As we bring the Android app to market, our expectations are far higher than just the additional users we’ll find on that platform.

Whole pie or nothing.