Using Ello, the new social media site

I'm on Ello, the new social media site (ello.co)(I'm @andreas_ramos). It's a simplified Facebook without the advertising, user tracking, games, groups, etc.

Some complain Ello has no exit strategy. No true. It's in Ello's FAQ where they write they'll offer paid features. It will be a life-style company. They don't need to IPO or do a take-over target.

Others complain Ello took VC funding, and "as we all know, VCs will want more money". How much did Ello get? $435,000 seed from FreshTracks Capital in Vermont. Okay, for East Coast people, this is a lot of money, but that wouldn't even buy a condo in Palo Alto. For SV startups, this is a very small amount. Let's say Ello charges $5/mo for a feature ($60/yr). Let's say they pick up one million users, a tiny amount compared to FB (1.4B) or Twitter (~200m). Based on other startups, around 4% will pay for services, so 1m X 0.04 = 40K paying users. Multiply by $60/yr to get $2.4m in revenues. Multiply by three years to get $7.2m. FreshTracks will be quite happy (they're in Vermont, so to them, that's Big Money.) Ello doesn't really need more money or ads.

What's interesting about Ello is its virality. A week ago, it was unknown. They're now growing at 30,000 users per hour. Why? Is it the "anti-FB"? Or the no-ads, no-tracking? Or the use-any-name-you-want?

Who are these 30K/hr users? Teens? 20-somethings? CIA robot accounts?

Inevitably, some marketing agencies will try to spam Ello. I wonder how Ello and its members will block that.

Ello doesn't have an Android app (yet).

I'm glad to see a small team and a few VCs in Vermont VCs have done so well. It's very good news for the many startups that aren't in SV. And you don't have do the SV process to be successful.