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Network Effects
When a product gets more useful as more people use it.
Example
A messaging app with one user is useless. With ten users it is mildly handy. With a hundred million it is the way everyone you know stays in touch. The product itself did not change. The number of people on it did, and that changed everything about its value.
How it fits in
Network effects are the strongest kind of moat in modern technology businesses. Once a critical mass of users joins a network, leaving costs more than staying. They also explain why second place in network-effect markets is rarely a stable position. The winner tends to take most. Phones, social networks, and marketplaces all show this pattern.
Where this is taught
Related terms
Someone who builds a product or service to solve a real problem and tries to make it pay for itself and grow.
A short, honest sentence that names who you help, what problem you solve, and why your way is better.
The smallest version of an idea that is real enough for someone to actually use it and tell you the truth about it.
