The Power of Network Effects

In Episode #57, we explore network effects and investing in network effect businesses. We’re joined by James Currier, co-founder and general partner of NfX. We cover virality vs. network effects, tweaking rules and systems to take advantage of network effects, and network effects as a business strategy. “Every company is its own work of art, and the founder is the artist.” – James Currier EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/james-currier1-outlier-academy-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/james-currier-outlier-academy-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to  network effects and investing in network effect businesses. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:58) – James’ background and journey to NfX (00:07:50) – Defining network effects and why they are so powerful (00:11:20) – Virality vs. network effects (00:14:46) – Examples of businesses with network effects (00:24:57) – Tweaking rules and systems to take advantage of network effects (00:31:07) – Networks effects as a business strategy (00:33:58) – Investing in network effects businesses (00:40:26) – Advice for founders ABOUT NFX The name NfX is actually short for Network Effects, and James with his founding partner, Pete Flint, founded NfX after seeing the power of network effects, partially by doing research that confirms that 70% of all unicorns are companies with proven network effects driving their businesses. While NFX has become one of the world's leading thinkers on network effects, having published incredibly salient posts from 13 different network effects and counting, where they've now identified 16 different types of network effects, to their very popular self-help article titled Your Life is Driven by Network Effects, and their strategy is clearly working. 💌  FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices