Creating an Internet Treasure

What is an Internet Treasure? John Doerr explained at the last Techcrunch Disrupt that an Internet Treasure is a great Internet company that will always be a part of our lifes. This approach makes me think about what Bono, the singer of U2, said once about a great song. He said "a great song has always been there," no matter when you write it, when it comes, it sounds as if it was just waiting there for you to bring it to people.

That is so true: great Internet companies, just months after their launch, seem as if they were always there. Yahoo!, eBay, Paypal, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, Google and many others are Internet Treasures, but nowadays we have Zynga first and foremost in our minds. But what makes Zynga different from others companies? What really makes it an Internet Treasure?

I believe that there is more than one reason to explain why Zynga is an Internet Treasure. From its CEO to its logo, Zynga has many components that, together, create the perfect storm for Internet success. But if I have to choose one specific to explain why Zynga is an Internet Treasure, I would say that it is the combination of ecommerce and content generation.

Zynga is at the state of the art of the digital business: they create a great product to play, and they get revenues selling a little part of that product. That is the magic of virtual goods. Selling millions of pixels at very low price makes it possible to scale their business. Zynga is selling directly through the screen without having to manage the delivery nightmare of tangible goods.

Zynga is an Internet Treasure, and like all the others, creates more value for their users than the value they capture from them. If I had to invest in a new venture I would try to emulate Zynga's business model, the right balance between ecommerce and content. And of course, I'd try to be as good at retaining and creating virality around my content as Zynga is. I'd like to hum this great tune!

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