Prove It Out, Then Move It Out

Andrew Chen posted a really interesting article today: http://andrewchen.co/2013/04/22/why-developers-are-leaving-the-facebook-platform/.

While I still think that Facebook is the best place to validate your business idea, as soon as you prove it out, you should consider if the Facebook platform will continue to work for you long-term.

If you're starting a software business, here are some of the potential downsides that Chen notes:

• Ad rates are increasing
• Virality is harder to achieve
• Engagement is limited -- Most people only look at 10-20 items in their feed at a time

IMHO an additional note is that you're more likely to get funding for a mobile app than a FB-only app right now.

I still think that Facebook is the best place to see if an idea will fly. And if your business is outside the software industry, you should still maintain a Facebook Page. But when it comes to actually investing in development, iOS or Android is a better bet in terms of riding a platform-wide wave of growth and attractive the investment that can help your idea really scale.