Until customers can be charged and revenues generated, however, what counts is capital. By February, the company had more than 125,000 subscribers in 23 countries and a target of 500,000 by year-end. Wong's game-plan is to tempt subscribers to the site for free, get them hooked on the service and convert them to paying subscribers. In the meantime, that means infrastructure, operating and promotional costs must be covered mainly by their investors' money. No problems on that score.
Money is plentiful for start-ups.
We have the capital to build brand, hire better people, move up the client chain, and go global. Indeed, throwing money at Internet start-ups may soon qualify as an Olympic sport. And the harder you fall. Competition is so fierce, that to succeed companies must lock in their customer base with technology that makes switching to a competitor either too expensive or too troublesome. And if that strategy can't be applied to a particular market, the only other alternative is to offer a unique product or service.