Chris Yeh of Blitzscaling recently wrote about the network effect https://www.blitzscalingvc.com/post/blitzscaling-network-effects
Below is my response to his recent post on Linkedin.
Chris Yeh I feel you have explained this much better than NFX has in the past. At https://skilleup.life I can’t wait to go live with Version 2 to fully leverage the network effect.
In my experience with 56,000 volunteers, network effect needs to be constantly reviewed.
Let me explain. When I started, I thought we would get more from the U.K. my home country. I didn’t know a single Nigerian. Today 42% are identified as from Nigeria. And this number would even be higher as we have Nigerian diaspora both as volunteers and tech startups.
Whilst this is awesome, this is also counterproductive, as our customers demand options. We tried to balance them with Indonesians. It worked for a while but once the person who championed this left us, that initiative fell through.
Recently I walked through a recently built block in Manchester, Circle Square. All I saw were Chinese students. Quick research showed that U.K. universities attracts 150,000 Chinese students.
That gave me a bold plan to add 50,000 Chinese to counterbalance the Nigerians. Those Chinese volunteers who joined first told me I’m nuts.
We recently onboarded Chinese tech startups as well. I’m also laying the seeds for the 3rd community as well.
I’ve only recently started paying attention to Chris. According to his website,
Author, Investor, Speaker, Mentor
Chris Yeh is the co-author, along with Reid Hoffman, of Blitzscaling, the book that explains how to build world-changing companies like Amazon, Alibaba, and Airbnb in record time.
A writer, investor, and entrepreneur, Chris has had a ringside seat in the world of startups and scaleups since 1995. His books help founders, venture capitalists, corporate leaders, policymakers, and everyday people better understand how the internet has changed the way we work together to build amazing organizations.
Hundreds of companies, from garage-dwelling startups to Fortune 50 titans have tapped his knowledge and insights to accelerate and transform their businesses.
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