Yosemitebear Mountain

Discovered: 7 months after uploadWHY???

Discovered by an Influencer

Lesson: viral growth is often delayed

1 million views

Double Platinum in 5 countries1st Solo Artist to have 4 singles in Top 40 before album’s releaseWHY???? King of YouTube

TALENT + MEDIUM + MARKETING

#7 Most Liked on Facebook: 42,447,186#2 Most Followed on Twitter: 20,684,366

Only person with a 100.0 Klout scoreTHE KING OF YOUTUBE

3 of top 10 most watched videos of all time 729,207,859

Josh Bell: The Anti-Bieber

Train Station @ D.C. Rush Hour 45 minutes

1,070 people passed by7 stopped to listen1 recognized him

Total raised: $32

TALENT – MEDIUM – MARKETING

YouTube Views: 3,635,880

Investing in Viral Growth

Jason JonesFounder & CEO, HighStep Capital

Invest Here

How to go Viral• 3 Keys to Virality – Content– Medium– Marketing

• Medium = strategic– Find the right network– Design for the network– At the right time– Launching the right thing

What to Watch For• Content– Funny, Authentic, Outstanding, Unexpected,

or Controversial

• Medium– Platform Structure and Nodes

• Usage– K-Factor, Influence Zeitgeist, Early

Momentum

• Lasting Power– Network Effect or One Hit Wonder?

Network Effect Models

YouTube purchasedFor $1.65b

Discovered 11 months after launchWHY????

Lazy Sunday uploaded

CONTENT + MEDIUM + MARKETING

Discovered 22 months after launch

BessemerInvested

“we were scouting for [a] user generated content media property

around products… for 6 years”

Medium + Usage + Lasting Power

How to Spot One Hit Wonders

Drawing is difficult and lacks a network effect

Negative virality is just as strong as positive virality

Understand the Network

Access to information

Engagement with friends

Real-time information

Image sharing around pinboards

Branchout: network nodes

#1 fastest growing FB app Feb ‘12Who has more connections,

Branchout or LinkedIn?

400m vs 150m

Dumb Smart

The ultimate viral business

Great content

Popular on Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, even email

$0 marketing but abundantly shared

• I Can Has Cheezburger•FAIL Blog

•Memebase•The Daily What•Know Your Meme

16.5m people have uploaded content

375m page views per month110m videos viewed per month

500k pictures uploaded per monthProfitable since inception

What does it mean???

What does it mean?• Seek platforms that are easy to use, that will

attract great content, and that encourage easy sharing

• Seek businesses that create content designed for the platforms

• Seek management teams that understand the network ecosystem

• Avoid companies that raise too much money

Jonah Perretti, CEO, Buzzfeed

Kevin Alloca, YouTube Trend

Manager

Scott Galloway, Professor of

Marketing, NYU

Jeremy Gutsche, Chief Trend

Hunter, TrendHunter.com

Lou Kerner,CEO, Social

Internet Fund

Justin Beiber – Baby Ft. Ludacris

With You – Chris Brown Cover Song – Justin Singing

Yosemite Mountain Giant Double Rainbow 1-8-10

Stop and Hear the Music

How to go Viral - Infectious Marketing Keynote Speech by Jeremy Gutsche

How to Make Content Go Viral - Scott Galloway

Web 2.0 Expo SF 2011: Jonah Peretti, "The Hidden Secrets of Social Media and Viral Advertising“

Kevin Allocca: Why videos go viral

Pearls Before Breakfast: Can one of the nation's great musicians cut through the fog of a D.C. rush hour? Let's find out.

FROM ZERO TO MILLIONS: The Secret To Making Content Go Crazy/Viral

Thanks!

jjones@highstepcap.com

Twitter: @cardinalrose

www.slideshare.com/jjones23