Technologies change with time and circumstances. The lockdowns brought the rise of Zoom, Peloton and Hopin, to name a few. But times change, as do needs and fortunes.

While much attention given of late to Peloton, it’s also notable that Virtual events platform Hopin cut(s) 12% of staff, citing goal of ‘sustainable growth.’ As Techcrunch reported, “Following unprecedented growth and several acquisitions, we are reorganizing to align with our goals for greater efficiency and sustainable growth,” the company said in a statement…Hopin acquired five companies in just 2021, including a $250 million purchase of StreamYard.”

David Bowie said that tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming, and as TechCrunch noted, Hopin “merely 11 months prior…closed a $400 million raise at a $5.65 billion valuation. Then (founder Johnny) Boufarhat told TechCrunch that “his company intends on being operationally IPO-ready next year.”

Founders who get caught up in the headiness of what’s going on in the moment do tend to be tone deaf when it comes to possible long-term scenarios.

“Reporter Gergely Orosz noted in their piece that “Hopin’s biggest problem is how they were blindsided by demand during the pandemic and were unprepared for the post-COVID world.”

“It’s a similar story — a startup loses discipline in pursuit of rapid growth to keep up with pandemic-amplified demand — that we’ve seen ripple across other industries over the past weeks.

“Peloton has been perhaps the harshest signal of this easy come, easy go trend, this week cutting 2,800 jobs and removing its CEO John Foley..”

And note, founders focused on the metaverse: No, Your Peloton Instructor Isn’t Getting Laid Off.

Content, baby. Engagement.

Which may explain why Facebook/Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg was reportedly close to tears at a recent all-hands meeting. As we reported last week, Meta took hits on several fronts. Not reported: as for the Facebook/Meta owned Whatsapp, while he wasn’t watching, Telegram rose to became the Anti-Facebook. (Note: The article does get political – it’s from Wired, after all, but as one Redditor noted, “This article makes a few good points but it’s seen from a very US centric perspective where Telegram is used as a form of clandestine tool for political activism when that couldn’t be further from the truth for the vast majority of its global userbase.” ED: We’ve noticed that many tech investors have joined Telegram. They’d hardly be considered terrorist, except possibly by some of the founders in their portfolio.)

“Facebook has warned that it may pull out of Europe if the Irish data protection commissioner enforces a ban on sharing data with the US, after a landmark ruling by the European court of justice found…that there were insufficient safeguards against snooping by US intelligence agencies,” according to The Guardian. Futurism reported that Europe’s response was: “Please Do!”

@Sean commented at  a recent Collective-I Forecast discussion covering the metaverse et al,  ”I believe “metaverse” has been co-opted as a term to become a magic word that gets investors to nod their heads and open their checkbooks.  like “information superhighway” was in the early 90’s.”

The 3-D Web

It’s important to keep in mind that we’ve been living with a two-dimensional web to date. Coincidence or not, with ‘Web 3.0’, we’re on the threshold of the immersive web – the web in 3D. Which isn’t to say that people haven’t been abandoning and won’t continue to abandon their Pelotons in favor of heading back to the gym, no matter what Peloton’s metaverse strategy might be. Peloton gyms, anyone? Meet me in the metaverse then we’ll head downstairs for a power shake afterwards.

Zuckerberg has been betting heavily on the metaverse, to the point where he even changed the company name to ‘Meta,’ no doubt hoping that the company would become a verb, much the way Google was to search.

Here’s an excellent piece on where the web went wrong. For any founder focusing on the metaverse, it’s a must-read (The web starts on page four). Noted the author, developer Christian Heilmann, “(Nowadays) We don’t create content for the web and for longevity. We create content to show ads around it. Consumption has gone down from minutes to seconds. Addiction machines like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok are heralded as the way to go..

“… I click an ad for a product I am actually happy to buy. I go to the web site and get asked to allow for notifications. No, I came here for a certain reason, I don’t want to be your friend. While I am looking at the product I will get a popup to sign up for a newsletter or friends and family program. And that is how you lose me…This is about me as the customer, not about you and your monthly active user numbers.”

Nor is it about hockey stick growth, which we’ve learned is finite and ultimately a doomed indicator. It’s about engagement. Value brings traction. And as we see via the rapid decline of Facebook, it’s about trust and not being treated like the product. No matter what we’ve believed to date, users are customers first and foremost. And if they’re going to be treated shabbily, they’ll take their eyeballs elsewhere and the “free” platform ultimately pays. It does come back to roost as we see with the price that Facebook is paying.

Using the first iteration of the web as a yardstick, it’s about discover and wonder. It’s about unfettered information and connection. Zuckerberg’s (et al) envision the metaverse as a walled garden where most aspect of one’s life can be addressed without leaving the comfort of one’s home. As we’ve witnessed with Peloton and Hopin, people will participate online – on an as-needed basis. The world has become more globally connected in the past two years, and platforms that allow for that in real time no doubt won’t be going away any time soon. People pay for Zoom and while usage may diminish when in-person meetings and events become more prevalent, they still add value when it comes to including the now more established global community.

Cable companies were veritable monopolies until streaming services came along. And people were willing to pay. As they do for Locals. Online platforms primarily adopted a broadcast television advertising model during the Web 1.0 and 2.0 eras. At this juncture in the industry, it’s high time to start thinking outside of the box – literally – and with any luck, pluck and a long overdue return to wonderment, could be that the online world will finally live up to its promise and like they say:  the third one’s the charm. Onward and forward.