How To Split An Atom

Welcome to How To Split An Atom. Why not take some time out to subscribe to our RSS feed? Thanks for visiting!

Lyro is a service that seeks to help professionals control their online identity. Unlike Social Networks like LinkedIn they have chosen to become a broker for “digital business cards,” relying on the strength of personal connections rather than scale to drive value. I had a chance to talk to Lief Larson of their parent company, Workforce, and here what he had to say about Lyro and more generally about digital entrepreneurship.

Lief Larson

What is Lyro?

Since the knee-jerk reaction by most people to hearing about Lyro is to say “LinkedIn,” I’ll start by telling you what Lyro is by describing what we are not. We ARE NOT social networking in its most recent context. LinkedIn and other social networks are typically closed and focus growth on the networking aspect. However, this is limited by Dunbar’s Rule of 150, which asserts that the size of a genuine network is limited to about 150 members. If you’re a small business person, an entrepreneur, or even a salesperson for that matter, it is highly unlikely that you can close a year’s worth of business through a social network. In fact, many people we’ve talked with said they’ve recognized zero opportunity from their participation in existing social networks. Just because Kevin Bacon is on LinkedIn doesn’t mean he’ll buy your blue widget, right?

What people want is a way to market and self-promote themselves to new audiences. Lyro is a personal advertising and identity tool that offers a place where you advertise YOU, self publishing tools, improved search engine ranking for your name and what you do. It’s more than social networking. Users of existing social networks pull value by extending ties with people they already know (a system closed by degrees of separation). Lyro is different. Our users push their value proposition that fulfills visitors’ needs (an open publishing system).

A Web By Any Other Name

What is it like to be an entrepreneur in “Web 2.0?” We do not acknowledge Web 2.0 around our offices. To say that necessary technological innovation warrants version numbers is simply ridiculous. Whatever period of web time we’re in, it is a great time to be an entrepreneur. I feel like Roald Amundsen preparing for the assault on the pole.

Unlike Scott, I think we’ve been very patient and have taken our time to work through the technology and our model. We are keenly aware that this is a luxury most entrepreneurs don’t have. We’re lucky in that we have a great set of investors. We’ve avoided the deadpool by staying true to our users and forgetting the hype. When we make the decision to start marketing ourselves, people will know about it. Until then, it’s business as usual…

Making the technology better.

Web 2.0 Roundup

I just wanted to thank Lief for taking to time to talk to us. If you are an entrepreneur with a story to tell, drop me a line.

(Image) (RSS)