Just thought i should mention soup.io (i am not affiliated with them) which i found to be wonderful in design and functionality. It aggregates my flickr, last.fm, picasa updates into one blog and posts new blog entries automatically on facebook. While mobile i can just send new images/texts/links to a cryptic mail address which gets posted. Love it!
Why Tumblr is kicking Posterous's ass
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Re: Why Tumblr is kicking Posterous's ass
#12Looking at the Tumblr landing page on a touchscreen PC makes me feel like someone is trying to tell me "MASH THE BUTTON WITH YOUR PALM TO MAKE IT GO."
It's probably just because I'm not who Tumblr is for, of course. But it's still interesting to ask: can you overdo design simplicity?
Re: Why Tumblr is kicking Posterous's ass
#13I think this is actually an unfair comparison. For one thing Tumblr really works the social network aspect of the site (reblogging, hearting articles, following users) whereas posterous is more an "island" blog. Which is fine, as they both solve different problems. I also think Tumblr is a technically superior product as well as a superior designed product (right now): for example I can embed javascript into my Tumbl…
You're right that Tumblr's social aspects are more developed than Posterous's and that this has been a huge driver of their growth but to me that's not so much solving two different problems as Tumblr being more smartly designed -- realizing that blogging, even minimalist blogging, is inherently social.
As for Tumblr's top tier investors -- sure, that's true. I was trying to emphasize that Posterous, on paper, has everything it takes to win.
Re: Why Tumblr is kicking Posterous's ass
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
He's not really doing analysis though- he's more trolling the west coast and posturing.
That was my impression at first glance, but look at his description of the steps involved in signing up with a three element form versus signing up via email, and ignore the sarcasm for a second. His conclusion is correct and would not have occurred to me absent reading the article.
Thanks.
Am I trolling? I don't think so, insofar as I use a provocative example to illustrate trends that I do think are important: the coming of age of New York as a startup hub and as a "school" for building consumer startups, and the growing importance of design vs. "hard" technology in building a successful consumer web app.
Re: Why Tumblr is kicking Posterous's ass
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think it was only six months. And first mover advantage means little online. Facebook wasn't the first social network, Twitter wasn't the first microblogging app, etc. Posterous's had a year and a half now and it's stagnating.
You're wrong about six months -- Tumblr has been around since early 2007 -- we launched about 16 months later, and grew at a far faster rate last year than Tumblr (10x across every metric actually.)
Thanks. Duly noted.
The Compete data seems to show Posterous stagnating just shy of 1M uniques for the past few months while Tumblr's curve is stuck "up and to the right," though.
Re: Why Tumblr is kicking Posterous's ass
#16There seems to be a contradiction in his argument. He talks a lot about the signup pages, focusing on what he guesses is Tumblr's much higher conversion rate and the reasons for why that conversion rate is high. Shortly thereafter, he lays into Posterous for being too metrics-driven. How could a company that's too metrics-driven let themselves get crushed (again, according to the author's guess) on something as impor…
The signup pages are an example of a broader mindset which is different at Tumblr and at Posterous and which in turn, to me, exemplifies broader trends for startups. That's what I think is interesting.
I'm not saying startups should not be metrics-driven. Design and engineering are both driven by metrics. But they're different mindsets. And in this case, one is clearly winning.
You're also right that the zero-sum fallacy is wrong. However, those two companies are competitors in the market and one, at least on publicly available data, is winning hands down.
Re: Why Tumblr is kicking Posterous's ass
#17Personally I don't really care for the Company A versus Company B frame, or the Region A versus Region B frame. However, I was quite interested in the discussion of how a feature which sounds great to an engineer can have negative consequences for your conversion rates versus something which is quicker to implement/less sophisticated/flies-in-face-of-received-wisdom/whatever. Other examples: "breaking navigation" dur…
Thanks.
The Company A vs Company B thing is just (to my mind) a particularly stark example of these broader points I try to make.
Re: Why Tumblr is kicking Posterous's ass
#18Re: Why Tumblr is kicking Posterous's ass
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
That was my impression at first glance, but look at his description of the steps involved in signing up with a three element form versus signing up via email, and ignore the sarcasm for a second. His conclusion is correct and would not have occurred to me absent reading the article.
Thanks. Am I trolling? I don't think so, insofar as I use a provocative example to illustrate trends that I do think are important: the coming of age of New York as a startup hub and as a "school" for building consumer startups, and the growing importance of design vs. "hard" technology in building a successful consumer web app.
Am I trolling? I don't think so...
In order to avoid being mistaken for trolling in the future, you might consider:
+ Cutting down on the curses, particular in titles.
+ Avoid personalizing any conflict. Your favorite sports team or the hated cross-town rival "eats dust", case studies on the other hand calmly discuss math.
+ Ratchet the sarcasm down seven notches. Eight if you're talking to people who know the people you're being sarcastic about.
+ Avoid interjections like "(ugh)" unless they are being used in a self-deprecating fashion.
Believe it or not, you can take this advice and still sound passionate, intelligent, engaging, and perhaps even hip, if you're into that sort of thing.
Re: Why Tumblr is kicking Posterous's ass
#20I agree with your take on mindset. But eyeballs isn't what makes the company successful in the end, the revenue does. And who has/will have more revenue is an open question for now. Personally I'd put on Posterous.