"Turning the browsers of pictures into buyers of products" is an excellent turn of phrase, but I think it kind of misses the point. In actuality, Pinterest is about to become the HSN of the internet. It plays to all of Facebook's weaknesses:
- Pinterest makes money on sales rather than ads, through referral links
- Pinterest makes identical money on users with accounts and anonymous users
- Pinterest has exactly the users who have money and want to spend it
- Pinterest runs on greed, envy and materialism rather than lust and boredom
It will be interesting to see how it plays out. They've already had a big setback in that they were rewriting or inserting referral links and they had to stop. I'm not sure what the conception is moving forward, but I'm sure $120M will help them figure it out. Unlike a lot of the other big names being bandied around now, there is a sense that they're trying to build a company rather than find the fastest largest way to sell out.
- Pinterest makes money on sales rather than ads, through referral links
- Pinterest makes identical money on users with accounts and anonymous users
- Pinterest has exactly the users who have money and want to spend it
- Pinterest runs on greed, envy and materialism rather than lust and boredom
It will be interesting to see how it plays out. They've already had a big setback in that they were rewriting or inserting referral links and they had to stop. I'm not sure what the conception is moving forward, but I'm sure $120M will help them figure it out. Unlike a lot of the other big names being bandied around now, there is a sense that they're trying to build a company rather than find the fastest largest way to sell out.