What is Blue Mountain Cards? It all started back when ecards became big in the 1990s. Im not sure exactly how they built a business model on the idea of giving away a free ecard, but they did. Business models based on advertising revenue were quite frequent back then. This is a difference with todays focus on real revenue. However, there are some painful similarities in web 2.0 to this idea of building big applications that will make money only from advertising.
Ecards are a difficult business space for me to understand. The business model is essentially one where you are killing another business model, the paper greeting cards space. In some ways its a normal case study of technology advancement over a paper based product. But I dont think its that simple. An ecard is not the same thing as a paper card. You buy a paper card at a store and physically write on it. Electronic cards are bought online and never touch paper. In this way, its a real product transition. So in essence, the technology is really impacted the very product. You see this also in pcs, telephones, tvs and other electronic products.
So what exactly did blue mountain cards do that was so special? First, Blue Mountain Cards had a big lead going into the game. They had a good plan. It seems like the executives at Blue Mountain Cards new they were onto something big, but that it wouldnt last. So the company was sold while things were still really really hot in the dot com sector. What a move that was.. Looking back, there are many things I wish I had done differently.
How is that in 2008 Blue Mountain Cards is still a going concern? You could argue that the management team at Blue Mountain Cards were the luckiest people on earth to have gotten such a valuation at such a time when that was seen as appropriate. However, these were experience people who were also making a serious move in a serious industry. This is not a small business. Flawed business model or not, Blue mountain cards made a big dent in a market worth billions. I think this accounts for why they are here today. Its a textbook case of building a brand in a new market. The part that is not text book is how Blue Mountain Cards got out at the top of the market. We should all be so lucky in our careers.
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by: al.sones
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