Going viral has become cliche. Often it a news story or a video will suddenly be everywhere, then disappear. In 2009, viral growth was the rage in Silicon Valley. Everyone wanted to engage in viral marketing to get their company to grow as quick as possible. Viral growth can be both a blessing and a curse. If an internet company is not prepared for the growth, they can quickly fall with the new growth. If customers don't like what they see, they may leave as quickly as they came.The book talks about many companies that have gone viral. Hotmail added a tagline at the end of messages that lead to rapid adoption. Paypal, Ebay, Netscape and many others have grown virally. Ebay and Paypal have managed to remain today. Netscape is long since gone, with Internet Explorer taking its market, and the IP seeding Mozilla. The book praises Ning and its viral growth and "moat". However, Ning is now just a minor niche player. Other social networks come and go. Friendster had some life in Asia before dying. Myspace is alive, but no longer important. Facebook is still a behemoth, but no longer popular with youth.
The book addresses some of the concerns with viral growth, but seems very optimistic. Biological viruses sometimes spread quickly. Other times they spread more slowly. Some viruses cause significant harm. Effort is made to counteract them. Others are a minor inconvenience and people just live with them. Some viruses also mutate making them almost impossible to eradicate. This could be a lesson for business also. Business that live by the virus also die by it. Mutation can help keep the business alive. However it is no guarantee of survival.
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