Even if the insight is right, it’s all in the execution: TikTok and Quibi
Satyajeet Salgar
Director of Product and UX, Google AI | previously YouTube and Google Search | Advisor
I’m spending a lot more time on TikTok recently, and so found myself reflecting a little longer than usual after reading this great article by Ben Thompson on TikTok and Quibi.
I won’t repeat all his insights, but the thing that stuck with me is his comment that Katzenberg’s thesis that led to the founding of Quibi was right. It definitely was. I remember thinking at the time that he was definitely right on the trends. The thesis was roughly
- There was a lot of entertainment consumption shifting to phones.
- There was an opportunity to innovate there.
- Shorter content was probably part of the answer as people’s attentions and habits
However, the set of decisions and the execution the team decided on was informed by their backgrounds and assumptions. They innovated on format (vertical/horizontal) and on length (all content is under 10 mins) and then bet big on premium content (celebrities, high production value and great scripts) to attract users and a regular schedule to ensure retention. The business model required a paid subscription strategy.
The insights into consumers behavior are definitely all correct, but the execution they bet on is… well it’s early and time will tell.
As Thompson points out, you could end up building TikTok off the same thesis and insight.
The execution would be completely different- short is much shorter (seconds, not minutes), and that with the right incentives, product affordances and early creators you could turn the entire planet into awesome creators and the right algorithms into amazing curators. You could build that short, mobile entertainment system in a completely different way.
The other execution challenge is that the stakes are a lot higher for Quibi (massive fundraise, hard to pivot the product to find product/market fit) vs. the opportunity Tiktok (and it’s various predecessor apps) had to tweak and find what works and respond to users.
Insight is critical, but execution is everything.
Not able to access Ben's article without a subscription. But loved your thoughts. My hypothesis is that the execs at Quibi, based on their exec status and position in life, landed on an interesting idea at the right time - and wanted to launch the perfect product. So they marketed and set up the expectation of perfection. To be successful in today's world, you have to start small, be willing to iterate, adjust and improve fast. Be willing to make mistakes - go through the "eat your dog food phase" you folks at Google do so well. Content will come. The platform has to be accessible and scalable - globally. A good benchmark would have bee the short bite video channels on YouTube. In another industry, Tesla - constantly improves and gets better. Ford has positioned everyone for a perfect Mach-e. At the news if the first issue/mistake and they will be analyzing, questioning, blaming and panicking. The quest for perfect first product launch, in today's world, is a setup for failure.
YouTube Creator Tools - Effects, ML, GenAI
4 年I think it's much simpler. The miss was just straight content. There is nothing interesting on Quibi. One could frame that as execution... didn't sign enough deals, source content, whatever. Or Strategy... didn't realize the importance (error in magnitude of importance) of content vs. the other focus areas - horizontal/vertical vs. length vs. sharing. Tiktok's success is in large part to the way they engage creators -- literally connect with creators everyday and tell them what trends are growing and what songs to use.
Driving Growth at YouTube APAC
4 年This was such a great article by Ben. It seems like Quibi missed out on another insight - it is not only consumption that has moved to mobile. It is creation too. This is where TikTok succeeds. Every consumer is a creator.
Senior Product Manager at Multi Media LLC, ex-Google
4 年+Siqi (Gill) Tan
CEO & Co-Founder Fireside | Founder @ Node.ai (Acquired by SugarCRM) | Fortune 40 under 40 in Technology | Fast Company 100 Most Creative People in Business | Ex-Googler | Angel Investor
4 年??