Thred will either become a household name or just another app -...

Thred will either become a household name or just another app - I think somewhere in between to at least be real about its potential - read on......

Remember this company and most tech companies are about market share rather than profits in the early years

One of the next immediate questions for me is capital raising - they had $12,000 in the bank as at March 31 so how they going to get money >????????
Some thoughts on what is required to have a successful tech start up !!
Remember early adopters of thred Technology will likely be your customers in years 1 and 2, the laggards may not enter the market until year 10 or later. (the absolute last people to take on the technology

1) The key is to start to get people to download the app (for free as no one will pay for it )
2) then they have to use it once downloaded- remember some of the apps that you have all downloaded and you will find you may or may not use them
3) For THRED to be a success there needs to be some kind of hook to get people to use it - yes there is a big market of social media and communication so its whether the technology can penetrate it
4) they need social media partners - i.e. Facebook twitter etc...
5) they need cash for operating costs , staff, roll out of product , programmers and designers etc..
6) estimate the size of your target market - complete
7) understand the technology life cycle - and once you launch how many of your competitors will benefit from what your about to show the market as the market and its competitors will catch up - they may have 12 -24 moths jump on their competitors if their technology is better than every one else
8) DOES YOUR TECHNOLOGY SOLVE A PROBLEM !! - CRITICAL
9) Where will the technology provide the most value

WHAT YOU NEED AS A START UP BUSINESS
areas such as:
Product development
Partnering and distribution
Organizational design and critical employee skills
Startups must also evaluate the size and nature of their market when arranging more tactical issues such as selecting a bank, an accountant or legal representation.
Starting point for estimating market size:
Know the problem you are solving
The starting point for estimating the market size is to understand the problem you solve for customers and the potential value your product generates for them.
Depending on your technology, you may have to choose which customer problem to solve first. If this is the case, completing the exercise below may help you better grasp the market size for each application. This will make it easier to prioritize which problem to solve first.
Exercise: Estimating market size
This exercise consists of five steps to help you estimate the total market potential for a product. In each step, we build on a case study that assumes the problem we solve relates to patient safety in hospitals.

Step 1. Define your target customer
All startups must define their target customer. (This article outlines the key steps to do this. The creation of a “day-in-the-life summary” will also help you analyze the nature of the customer problem you are solving.)
Your target customer equals the person or company for whom your technology solves a specific problem. To define your target customer you must:
Determine who your target customer is.
Create a profile of your typical/expected target customer.
Given the importance of defining your target customer, it is crucial to set aside enough time to do a proper analysis of this first step.

Step 2. Estimate the number of target customers
Estimate the total number of target customers in the market—companies who have a profile similar to that your target customer.

Step 3. Determine your penetration rate
Refine your market size by assuming a penetration rate for your category of product. The penetration rate is a function of the nature of your product. Assume a high penetration rate if your category of product is mission-critical or mandated through regulation; assume a low penetration rate for products with a specialized purpose.
Example: penetration rates of computers versus business intelligence systems:
Computers, word-processing and Internet: It is almost impossible today to operate a business in the developed world without a computer that has word-processing capabilities and is connected to the internet. While the penetration of those three technologies has not quite reached 100%, it is close enough to use that assumption for business planning.
Business intelligence systems: In theory, most companies would benefit from having a business intelligence system—a type of software that is used to manage and analyze data about finance, sales, and marketing activities, in addition to more specialized purposes.
In practice, however, few ventures have the combination of the scale, skills and business practices required to make business intelligence systems a worthwhile investment.This limits the penetration rate to very large organizations that make up maybe less than 1% of all businesses in the developed world. Nevertheless, while 1% may not sound like a lot, it still represents a much larger number of target customers than a start-up could effectively pursue.

Step 4. Calculate the potential market size: Volume and value
MARKET VOLUME
To find the overall market potential (that is, the potential market volume), multiply your number of target customers by the penetration rate (see steps 2 and 3 above).
Market volume = Number of target customers × Penetration rate
Case study: Using our fictitious example, where the number of target customers is 1,300 and the penetration rate is assumed to be 70%, the potential market volume would be calculated as follows:
1,300 hospitals x 70% = 910 hospitals
MARKET VALUE
To calculate the monetary value of the market, multiply the market volume by your average value (that is, price expectations).
Market value = Market volume × Average value
Case study: We assume each sale to a hospital will yield an average value of $2.5 million. To find the market value, we calculate the following:
910 hospitals x $ 2.5 million = $ 2.275 billion
5. Apply the market-size data
Following these steps to estimate your market size (value) is by no means an exact science. Still, there are ways to maximize the effectiveness of this exercise:
At the time you make your first estimate, examine each assumption you make and what would cause it to change. To factor in the risks of change, calculate best-case and worst-case scenarios in addition to your expected scenario.
Over time, monitor the accuracy of your initial assumptions and whether you need to modify them.

Cheers Schu