marc andreessen

Rockmelt, Anyone?

By Mark Evans in Browsers, Social Media 3 Comments Tags: , , , ,

In November, Rockmelt burst onto the scene as the new (and latest) social browser. It helped the start-up is financially backed by Marc Andreessen, and it’s a browser with a strong dose of Facebook.

Since Rockmelt made its debut, it has disappeared from the scene. There’s no chatter about Rockmelt, no sign it is gaining market share, and no one in my social-happy circles seem to be using it. In other words, Rockmelt seems to have melted as opposed to rocketed.

So what happened? Why has Rockmelt fizzled after such a strong kick-off?

I think part of it is Rockmelt’s heavy focus on Facebook, making it a Facebook browser as opposed to a social browser. It may also be due to the reality the browser market is extremely competitive with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Safari dominating the scene. This makes it difficult to establish a foothold unless a new browser is fantastic or launched by a strong player such as Google.

Perhaps the biggest problem with Rockmelt is it wasn’t launched by Facebook. So while it’s a Facebook-dominated browser, it’s not part of Facebook. My sense is Rockmelt would be a much bigger success if was the much rumored F-browser as opposed to a plucky start-up that was seemingly created to be acquired by Facebook.

If Rockmelt was the F-browser, it would have the backing and clout of Facebook and, as a result, would have an easier time convincing Facebook user to adopt it. It would probably have tighter integration with Facebook and be closer aligned with with Facebook’s new features.

Instead, Rockmelt sits in an awkward place. It’s trying to be a social browser but it’s a difficult place to establish a foothold. For people who remember Flock (aka the original social browser), it’s not clear whether people are looking for a browser that embraces social media.

At the same time, Rockmelt’s biggest obstacle may be people are happy with the other browser choices. It may be Rockmelt was a victim of bad timing in that the new kid on the block status was claimed by Chrome, leaving Rockmelt on the outside looking in.


Is the World Finally Ready for the Social Browser?

By Mark Evans in Browsers, Social Media No Comments Tags: , , ,

In 2005, Flock launched amid extensive…and then is promptly bombed.

Released as an alpha (a dumb idea no matter how you try to slice it), Flock attempted to become the “social browser”. One of its many shortcomings is it tried to be all things to all people, which only confused everyone. While Flock is still around, it never recovered from its inauspicious debut.

Fast-forward five years and we’ve got another much-hyped social browser, Rockmelt. There are two things that differentiates Rockmelt from Flock. One, the world is probably ready for a social browser whereas Flock was likely ahead of its time. Second, Rockmelt is backed by Marc Andresseen, the guy who created the Netscape browser before it was swamped by Internet Explorer.

My first impression of Rockmelt is mixed. I guess the biggest hurdle is the tight integration with Facebook. To get Rockmelt, you need to provide your Facebook username and password, and provide Rockmelt with access to a lot of your data. As a recalcitrant Facebook user, this is far from ideal – it would be better to have a standalone download.

The upside is Rockmelt looks solid, and avoids Flock’s mistake of trying to do too much. It looks and feels like a Web browser, which may appear like a straightforward proposition but, nevertheless, is important given people will compare how it performs to IE, Firefox and Chrome. (See the screenshot below that displays a Facebook stream.)

It also has solid integration with Facebook and Twitter. You can post updates on Facebook and Twitter directly from Rockmelt, as well as check out your Facebook and Twitter streams, and see the status of Facebook friends within a stream that sits on the left-hand side of the browser. I’m not totally clear about feeds feature, which strikes me as a frill as opposed to something that will appeal to many users.

Rockmelt’s biggest challenge, of course, is trying to gain a foothold in the highly-competitive browser market, particularly given that Google’s Chrome has changed the dynamics by stealing Firefox’s title as the hot, new kid on the block.

There is no doubt Rockmelt’s usage and investment prospects hinge on its Facebook integration. If positioned and marketed properly, Rockmelt could become the browser for many of the 540 million Facebook users looking for a browser that meets their need to browse the Web and be connected to Facebook.

By becoming the Facebook browser before Facebook could create one itself, it seems like a no-brainer Rockmelt will eventually be purchased by Facebook.

Of course, this is the way Silicon Valley works when everyone is so connected. A nudge here, a wink there, a few million dollars in venture capital, and, voila, the next hot start-up is purchased by one of the Web giants.

Silicon Valley’s Obsession with Free

By Mark Evans in Social Media, Venture Capital 2 Comments Tags: , , , , ,

Let’s get the facts straight here: Foursquare doesn’t have to have a business model, it has “only” 1.5 million users in a market that appears to be a more niche than mainstream….but it still manages to raise $20-million in venture capital in a round led by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz.

Call me a skeptic but I don’t get it. It’s hard enough attempting to justify why Twitter has attracted more than $100 million in venture capital but at least it has 125 million users around the world. Nevertheless, there appears to be widespread enthusiasm for the deal.

The reality is none of this really matters to Silicon Valley, which invests in potential and possibilities even when the rest of us are scratching our heads. This is what makes Silicon Valley, Silicon Valley, and probably why the success rates within venture capital are so low.

Foursquare is another example of how start-ups that gain traction with a free service are so difficult for evaluate financially. Even when they are wildly popular, investors need to take a leap of faith in their continued growth and their ability in getting users or advertisers to start paying for the privilege of the service, its users or features.

Sure, there are a variety of potential business models for Foursquare such as local advertising and mobile commerce but it’s just talk until the money starts flowing in.

Silicon Valley, however, loves sexy stories with buzz in emerging markets – even if it is still unclear about the economics of these markets.

Hats off to Foursquare for raising $20-million but the one stark truth is money can’t buy happiness, and as Twitter has discover, it can’t buy a business model that will validate the venture capital being raised.

As much as it might be difficult to avoid the temptation to invest in Foursquare, particularly for anyone who missed out on Twitter, it’s still a risky investment given it is uncertain whether Foursquare is a novelty or business.

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