[What happens to network effects when they cross the border?]

It often seems that startups with solid network effects are nearly unstoppable. When a network reaches critical mass, it seems like an inevitability that the company will dominate as the ever-increasing value it provides is recognized by more and more users.

What happens when the company, growing exponentially, decides to dive into another market? In many cases, the market entry is not met with a big splash, but a small drop. The company receives no credit in the new market for their valuable network at home. Many startups acknowledge that they need to build up a local network, but they differ their approach in the new market. They attempt to build up the new network by simply creating awareness and throwing marketing dollars at the network. This differs from their original home market approach, where they identified a core group of users and focused on building out the network for this group.

But often, there’s no shortcut and the network often needs to be built up from scratch. Yes, the startup does have some advantages with product development and takes a lot of learnings to the new market, but the approach should not be to stand on the shoulders of the home market. They should build it up the old-fashioned way.

Not all network effects are created equal here. In forums, a network where content is key, the language will play a key role in how portable the network effect is. A Taiwan-based forum, with content in Chinese, will have an easier time expanding into Hong Kong than Japan. Unlike a Hong Kong user, a Japanese user will see nothing of value, so the company could focus on building up the Japanese network from scratch by starting out with one small, core group.

Airbnb, initially focused on the US, easily found hosts internationally who were eager to serve traveling Americans. As hosts came onto the platform in international markets, domestic travelers in those markets followed.

Clubhouse, of course, was able to simultaneously enter many markets by offering must-hear content like Elon Musk grilling Robinhood villain Vlad Tenev, which had global appeal, to their platform and maxing out FOMO. Long after Musk and other stars made their appearances, mere mortal users still remain to chat amongst themselves.

Facebook, initially full of English content and Americans, faced an uphill challenge to onboard networks in non-English speaking countries and foreign countries. The arrival of FarmVille, a game that spoke to users of every language, pulled new users onto the platform. Before long, there were plenty of non-English speaking friends on Facebook.

When network effects travel across the border, your mileage may vary. Some startups will have a much better time replicating their success in new markets. Others will find success only by being innovative or carefully selecting markets. And others still will find no shortcuts and methodically build from scratch. Which one are you?

★★★本日實用單字★★★

如果 dissect 政客說的每句話，很快就可以發現他們是白痴，菲爾說。

我老早就知道，還要你說！本人十分驕傲地回他。

所以台北市長經過一夜思考，做了跟別人一樣的決定？菲爾有點不解。

對啊，我說。

Oh he's such a tool，菲爾說。

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tool 這個字大家都知道，不過我倒是不知道可以這樣用。是個很英式的用法，常用在政治人物身上，說某人是個 complete tool, utter tool，白痴的意思。

我找了 tool 除了工具外的解釋，真是太太太太適合檳榔了！over-inflated ego，總喜歡 get un-due attention for himself 而且 in his deluded state, he will think it's going to make him look cool, or make others want to be like him！請大家好好看一下解釋，根本是檳榔的最佳寫照！

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dissect: methodically cut up (a body or plant) in order to study its internal parts.

tool: a guy with a hugely over-inflated ego, who in an attempt to get un-due attention for himself, will act like a jackass, because, in his deluded state, he will think it's going to make him look cool, or make others want to be like him. The person may even insincerely apologize later on, but only in an attempt to get more attention, or to excuse his blatantly intentional, and unrepentantly tool-ish behavior.

:
People with ADHD always have a special feel for life. A way of seeing right into the heart of matters, while others have to reason their way methodically.

She was never on the same page as the people around her. Sometimes ahead, sometimes behind, always in a different chapter, sometimes even in a completely different book.

Who will understand?

-A hidden ADHD @ Hong Kong

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I've been thinking about what kind of content I want to publish to YouTube. I bought a lot of expensive equipment last year in order to capture footage of retro games, including a Micomsoft XCapture-1 capture-card and Open Source Scan Converter line-multiplier (OSSC), and so I wanted to get some use out of them.

I do want to make reviews and top-ten lists in the future, but for now, I decided to make a quick video chronicling one playthrough of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on Sega Genesis/Megadrive.

I played the game on a Model 1 NTSC Sega Genesis using a Mega EverDrive X7 flash-cartridge even though I have two real copies of Sonic 2, one of which is featured in this video's thumbnail. I used an HD Retrovision component-video cable to output video from the console to my OSSC, which line-quadrupled the image to 1280 x 960. The OSSC sent the video to my XCapture-1 via HDMI, which sent the data to my PC via USB3, while simultaneously passing through the video to my monitor via an HDMI-out. I used Micomsoft's own VideoKeeper2 software to capture the footage on my Windows PC. In short, it was a big mess of cables.

After my playthrough, I used Blackmagic Design's free video-editor called DaVinci Resolve to upscale the 960p image to 1080p. I then used Handbrake to compress the video a little bit so that I would have less data to upload to YouTube.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is one of my favorite games of all time. What you see here is how I normally play the game. I usually ignore the 3D half-pipe bonus-levels, try to get 100 rings on every stage, and overall I don't try to complete stages as quickly as possible. Contrary to popular belief, Sonic-games can be played methodically with occasional bursts of speed in the mix.

Oil Ocean Zone is where I usually start having trouble keeping rings because those flying seahorses come out of nowhere. Metropolis Zone features comically-cheap enemy-placement that results in rings lost as well.

I know that a lot of you subscribed because of my Splatoon-montages, and for that, I thank you very much. I hope that you will stick around for the next chapter of this channel as I branch out and explore different areas of my gaming-palate and life.