Bernard Lunn's analysis of which businesses are viral, and why is a good read. One of the points he makes about communications applications is an especially good one:
Only Communication is a sure fire viral success. It only works when it is a genuinely new form of communication (webmail, social networking, microblogging). You cannot launch a web mail or social networking site today and expect viral adoption. But when it is a genuinely new form of communication, the viral adoption is stunning in its speed.
Bingo! That's the reason we chose to build our applications on the back of Facebook's API, rather than try to build yet another social network.
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry make Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
