Yahoo’s Kickstart: Aptly named?

November 5, 2007
by Latitude

I don’t know about you, but the first pangs of social networking fatigue are starting to set in.

It’s not using one’s social network(s) of choice that is draining – after all, we use them for good reasons – but sifting through all of the announcements of new ones being launched. When even Kylie gets in on the geekery, you know the tipping point has long since passed.

Not brilliant timing, then, for Yahoo to be launching its new social network. So far, not so good, it seems.

According to Valleywag:

Three companies have signed up so far. One is a charity. The other is a Yahoo client, Ogilvy. And the last? Yahoo. According to reports, Kickstart was created by Yahoo’s Advanced Products group, which Yahoo PR is apparently telling reporters to call a “young Yahoo unit charged with advancing product innovation.” But we don’t mind if you call them “Facebook rejects.”

Seems a bit harsh to me, though the lack of sign-ups is clearly not ideal for Yahoo. At a time where hype at the intersection of tech and social is thick on the ground, a sleeper hit is very much in order. (The micro-blogging service Twitter may be just that, but some competition would be nice.)

Yahoo is also taking a healthy approach to innovation:

Bradley Horowitz, vice president of Advanced Development, said the groups were taking a “portfolio approach,” where they would try many things—the majority of which would likely fail—in order to learn and create successful offerings.

Whether shareholders get it or not, every project cannot be a hit. But the failures often yield learning that goes into projects that can and will succeed. Whether Kickstart will be one of them is anyone’s guess, but at least Yahoo’s going into it with the right attitude.