Myth check
Was Friendster too early?
Not a timing failure since 2026-10-25 · ledger #37
MySpace succeeded in the same window with the same technology.
Short answer
Friendster (2002) pioneered the modern social network and grew to millions of users, but its pages slowed to a crawl as it grew. MySpace (2003) scaled past it in the same years, on the same broadband, and won. When a competitor succeeds at the same time with the same enablers, the enabler existed: this was execution.
- Killing constraint
- Nothing was missing
E6 Behavioural norm - Who is in now
- MySpace
founded 2003 - Why it is not timing
- A competitor succeeded at the same time with the same enablers
The enablers it needed already existed; something else killed it.
Graveyard
Companies that died proving people wanted this. Capital shown where it was disclosed.
| Company | Years | Capital | How it died | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friendster | 2002–2015 | — | Lost US users to MySpace by 2005; shut in 2015 | source M |
Who succeeded at the same time
- MySpace (founded 2003) — passed 100 million accounts source