In the fall of 2014, in the midst of controversy about Facebook’s real-name policy and selling of user data, a new social media platform called Ello caught fire. Ello vowed to forever be free of advertising, and its company manifesto boldly concluded with a promise to would-be users that “You are not a product.” The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The media dubbed Ello the “Anti-Facebook” and, at its peak, the social network was getting membership requests from more than 30,000 new users per hour.
This enviable opportunity quickly turned sour, however. Recently launched by a few designers and developers in Vermont, Ello was not equipped to handle such a high level of traffic, resulting in a bad experience for some users. Furthermore, the site was still bare bones and many users who came expecting similar features to Facebook were disappointed. Ultimately, Ello’s success didn’t last long. Though the site lives on as a network for artists and creators, most of the users who came hoping for an alternative to Facebook quickly left.
Ello’s story shows what can happen when a startup achieves media success that outpaces its progress in other areas. While some founders suffer from a naïve “If you build it, they will come” attitude, many others swing to the opposite extreme. Tempted by the allure of media exposure, they seek it out before they’re ready. Case in point: Elizabeth Holmes at Theranos, who chased TED talks, New Yorker profiles, and Fortune covers before her company’s core technology even worked (and then apparently lied about it when the exaggerations caught up with her).
While Theranos may be an extreme example, most founders would give an arm for similar (and similarly fawning) media coverage. They know publicity can be an important early signal of a business’s progress, helping attract the customers, partners, employees, and investors the company needs to take off.
Research backs this up: one study of technology startups found that more coverage in industry media early in a company’s development…