rVibe Blog

There is no doubt that numbers of users and numbers of page visits are important metrics. They kind of show popularity and have implications for advertisements. However, there are questions (and thankfully being asked more all the time) whether views really means anything.  But in “web 2.0″ space that seems to be king - number of users.  Let’s take iLike for instance: Social music service that has a Facebook application, an iTunes/WMP sidebar plug-in and something like a million users.   No revenue model. No eCommerce, no ads, not a “freemium” model not even a licensing partnership. But popular and funded (and by very successful VC’s). They are considered some big fish in the Social Networking Music pond.

But what happened to pro formas? What happened to a revenue model?  Is showing usage and traffic enough?  Maybe for an acquisition (is Facebook or now-rival Google) going to buy iLike? Maybe that is the entire strategy - get bought by Facebook/Google. I had thought using that as a strategy is a bad idea. I had thought it made more sense to build a successful business.  It’s a nice trick to pretend that users/clicks/traffic = revenue.

In any case, we’re focused on building a successful, revenue generating and profitable business. One where we make money on retail sales, advertisement click throughs and technology licensing. That also means we have pro forma financials mixed with some actuals.  I prefer it that way - I think it’s wrong to manage to users, it’s better to manage to money and margin.

-Braydon