Horizontal social networks are ineffective for many specialized professions due to the lack of relevance, focus, trust and added value that the “one-size-fit-all’ networks fail to deliver. We trust people and professionals who are more like us, who care about the same issues that we do and who make every interaction meaningful instead of interacting with random people and irrelevant content.
More than 50% of US doctors use vertical social network Doximity when doctors are the slowest professionals to adopt technology. – SHRM Magazine.
Horizontal social networks fail to generate content and conversations relevant to entrepreneurs.
Why Horizontal social networks are ineffective for Entrepreneurs?
On horizontal social networks, entrepreneurs are lost in the midst of 400 million professionals, their random content which is often irrelevant and not focused on issues that entrepreneurs care about. The issues Entrepreneurs care about are:
- Finding high quality team that has similar DNA and burning desire to make a difference just like them
- Securing advisors with proven expertise in scaling businesses who can mentor them and also help them build their eco-system
- Getting customer/market validation to their ideas and identifying the product market fit
- A step-by-step roadmap that allows them to take their raw ideas and make them funding ready
- Getting rapid feedback from customers so that they can execute swiftly and grow their businesses
In the absence of an eco-system, many bright ideas lose steam quickly due to the inability of the entrepreneurs to attract a team, find advisors, identify product-market fit and ultimately get funded.
The Consequence: The potential of many talented entrepreneurs may never be realized without access to an entrepreneurial eco-system.
Why specialized social networks?Specialized social networks such as Doximity are becoming more successful because:
People trust their peers more:Entrepreneurs, doctors or other specialized professionals are more likely to trust people like them than trusting branded content and messaging on horizontal social networks. Members of the vertical social networks want to interact with high quality, verified peers who are like them.
People prefer focus and relevance:The conversations, content, connections on a vertical social network are highly focused on the issues that entrepreneurs care about – from ideation, forming teams, securing advisors, raising funds to growing businesses for successful exits. This makes the vertical networks far more valuable and allows entrepreneurs to make progress more easily and rapidly.
Entrepreneur’s Social Network:The ideal solution would consist of four key elements that help entrepreneurs make progress throughout their lifecycle:
The vertical social network:It allows entrepreneurs ability to easily find like-minded co-founders to work on their ideas and connections to experienced professional who can offer expertise and guidance to help them get market validation and determine product-market fit. Instead of relying on a small number of very wealthy investors for their mentorship and guidance, the ideal solution allows entrepreneurs to connect with a large number of functional experts in particular industries who collectively provide faster input in a low-touch manner.
Social Ideation:The ideal solution would also provide the entrepreneurs with guided tools that allows them to get started immediately with their raw idea and help them refine it by getting customer validation, brainstorming solutions and validating a prototype. Moreover, it offers them feedback from the network – every step of the way.
Equity crowdfunding:It would also provide them access to equity crowdfunding from a much larger pool of investors who not only would provide funding but also provide feedback on ideas that are not getting funded to help entrepreneurs make adjustments and actionable progress.
Strong common bond:In addition to being the specialized network for entrepreneurs, it would bring people together on the basis of their alumni affinity to either a premier school or a brand which is essential for greater engagement, getting peer feedback and benefiting from the power of community.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, the horizontal, one-size-fit-all networks are ineffective in meeting the needs of specialized professionals such as entrepreneurs. Specialized social network delivers significantly greater value to entrepreneurs as the content, connections and interactions are more trusted, highly focused, of superior quality, and of greater relevance. Additionally, a strong common bond such as alumni affinity to a premier school or a brand further strengthens the relevance, quality and the value of the specialized network.
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