What a story!
Have you heard people talking about the Clubhouse app already? Are you also thinking about why this has become the latest silicon valley obsession?
Don’t worry. It will all make sense soon enough.
In this edition, we will talk about what Clubhouse is and how the community-centric approach led Clubhouse to make waves in the tech world.
The Story
Welcome to your next social media addiction: Clubhouse—a unique invite-only live audio platform. This app might be the ultimate gift born during the global pandemic of 2020.
Clubhouse is the buzzy new social app of 2020, freshly valued at $100 million after a reported $12 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz. It’s still very early day for Clubhouse. There’s no website yet, and the founders, Paul Davison and Rohan Seth, have stayed out of the press. Their LinkedIn profiles say they started Alpha Exploration Co., the parent company of Clubhouse, earlier this year.
However, one of the main reasons Clubhouse has been able to make a splash quickly is by getting A-listers in myriad fields to try it. Oprah Winfrey is perhaps the most famous person to have been heard on Clubhouse. Celebs like Kevin Hart, Chris Rock, and Jared Leto have also been spotted on it.
In reality, Clubhouse is actually evolving like any other online community. Needless to say, it looks like Paul Davison and Rohan Seth knew the gift of early members. They spent a good amount of time in the curation of the early members who truly relate with their purpose and started building the app not just for them, but with them.
By giving early access to the app to renowned celebrities and tech founders around the world, they automatically made non-members envious. Other people wanted to be a part of the community just because these early members couldn’t stop talking about it. And ultimately, these early members became very special people for Clubhouse. Not only did they give constant feedback about it, but also told their friends, colleagues, and followers about it.
But it still begs the question - What is that one thing about Clubhouse that everyone wants to check out the app?
Yup, this story just took an interesting turn.
Let’s dig in and find out more.
What makes it unique?
Clubhouse gives users some serious FOMO!
The invite-only exclusivity has users and potential users scrutinizing Clubhouse possibly more than any other social media platform. The positive thing about this for the Clubhouse team is that it creates FOMO, keeping users on the app and piques interest from people who want to get in. The positive thing as a user is that it encourages a level of active listening and engagement we don’t always exercise on social platforms. For example, you can’t be on a Clubhouse stage and watching TV at the same time. There’s also a (possibly false) sense of safety knowing the conversation is live only; you might be willing to share more than you would in a clip you know can be heard and shared widely and repeatedly.
Glynk’s tip 💡
Bottom line - Clubhouse genuinely focused on its initial efforts. Like any other thriving online community, new products/platforms also start small and grow organically, eventually turning into something big. Initial days can become the hardest but it will keep your business growing. Be Patient! The key is to handpick your early members very carefully.
The impact.
In August, there were only about 6K users and members were largely tech execs, celebs, founders, venture capitalists, and some “thought leaders.”
But eventually, from week to week, as more people joined the app (mostly from entertainment and media initially), the space started changing in real-time. There was a wider choice of conversations, creative uses of the rooms like live games or artist premieres, and more late-night traffic as we all just sat in rooms talking about whatever. By late September, users were increasing rapidly and exponentially, and as Clubhouse has grown (the app reportedly just passed 100K users), usage continues to evolve in creative ways.
The million-dollar question: Can Clubhouse scale?
People might have their own ideas about the value of the Clubhouse. In our opinion, Clubhouse has a great value for the users. And considering the fact that the app is still niche, the social media world has shown that something like Clubhouse can become huge virtually overnight. So, it feels like this has a long way to go.
However, before even thinking about revenue, Clubhouse’s next big challenge will be opening the app to many thousands more people without it getting cluttered.
What do you guys think about Clubhouse? Let us know your thoughts by replying to this email or dropping a comment. If you liked what you read, please share it on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter - wherever you love to spend most of your time spreading knowledge!