Myth check
Was MySpace too early?
Not a timing failure since 2026-10-25 · ledger #45
Facebook won in the same years with the same enablers.
Short answer
MySpace launched before Facebook opened to the public, passed 100 million accounts, and was bought by News Corp for $580M in 2005. It lost to Facebook head-to-head on the same broadband and the same browsers and was sold for about $35M in 2011. Same date, same enablers, different outcome: not timing.
- Killing constraint
- Nothing was missing
E6 Behavioural norm - Who is in now
- Facebook
founded 2004 - 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MySpace | 2003–2011 | — | Sold by News Corp for about $35M in 2011, after a $580M purchase in 2005 | source M |
Who succeeded at the same time
- Facebook (founded 2004) — overtook MySpace in 2008 source