4. The Problem:
FANG Moats
๏ Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google/Alphabet (FANG)
dominate their respective sectors
๏ A โMoatโ is a unique advantage which is difficult for an outside
competitor to overcome
๏ Moat types include:
๏ Economic
๏ Human Resource
๏ Network Effects
5. Nature of Tech
Adoption
(Wikipedia)
๏ Theories:
๏ TheTwo-Step Hypothesis
๏ TheTrick-Down Effect
๏ The Everett Rogers Diffusion of Innovations theory
๏ Crossing the Chasm
๏ Technology Driven Models
๏ Hype Cycle
๏ Lazy User Model
๏ Matching Person andTechnology Model
๏ Technology Lifecycle
๏ Varian Rule
7. HistoricalTech
Adoption
Battles
๏ A few of the epic slugfests of my lifetime:
๏ VHS vs Beta
๏ ISA vsVESA vs Microchannel vs PCI
๏ Win95 vs OS/2
๏ Ethernet vsToken Ring
๏ HTML vs Gopher
๏ The BrowserWars (e.g. Netscape vs IE)
๏ Linux vsWindows vs OSX
๏ Apple Mac vs IBM PC
๏ FANG vs the FreeWorld (?)
8. Prioritize Ease
ofOnboarding
๏ The installation/registration/login process can turn users off if isnโt
fast, easy/smooth and works on their hardware/software
Easy Hard
Login with
Facebook/Google/Email
Create yet another user ID/pwd
A progressive web app (PWA)
which can install to my desktop
A native app I must download
and install from the App Sotre
No extensions required for full
functionality
A browser extension I need to
install
An app available in the worldโs 5
most common languages using
CDN/IP to guess initial language
Using an app in my 2nd or 3rd
language
Installation->Registration-Initial
Sign-in under 2 mins
> 2 mins
11. GoAfter the
โTop 5โ
๏ To get an application into the hands of more users it must be
usable by as many users worldwide as possible
๏ This means selectively targeting the โTop 5โ (where applicable):
๏ Languages (Mandarin, Spanish, English, Hindi,Arabic)
๏ Browsers (Chrome, Firefox, IE, Safari etc.)
๏ Smartphones (Android, IOS)
๏ Social Networks (Facebook,Youtube, Instagram,Twitter, Reddit)
๏ Works Offline/Low Bandwidth
๏ Works on lower end Android Smartphones
12. TheTrojan
Horse
๏ Decentralization, Privacy and Self-Sovereign Identity sound good
but the average user doesnโt seem to really care
๏ Focus on ease of use, convenience, and functionality while
documenting our principles
๏ Have decentralization, privacy and self-sovereign identity fade
into the background of the application as invisible infrastructure
13. Embrace &
Extend by
Co-Opting
Their Network
๏ One of the deepest moats is the Network Effect expressed by
Metcalfeโs Law. The more people using a service, the more useful
it becomes
๏ By contrast growing a new service often runs into a chicken and
egg problem
๏ So be friendly and form partnerships with your top 5 network
competitors and co-opt and cross pollinate their users with API
calls (Aggregation Pattern)
๏ This is page out of 90โs Microsoft: Embrace & Extend
๏ Donโt โExtinguishโ, thereโs no need for thatโฆ
14. Conclusion
1. Itโs hard to sell Decentralization, Privacy, and Self Sovereign
Identity, but we need these things
2. Given the deep moats of the FANGs (economic, human,
network) itโs hard to get traction for our projects
3. We can leverage the theories and models of tech adoption to
our benefit while studying the historical battles
4. We should prioritize ease of onboarding while balancing
security and ease of use
5. To make our project accessible to the maximum number of
people we should go after the โTop 5โ
6. We can sneak our principles in like aTrojan Horse
7. We can โEmbrace and Extendโ by friendly co-option of the
competitionโs network of users
