The Game of Life: The Bouncer & The Bounced
Several folks have likened the Fuego Nation entry process to that of coaxing your way into an exclusive nightclub. Though the parallel at first escaped us, we’ve come to adopt the simile over time and believe the power of the nightclub experience is indicative of the compelling nature of our online product. To draw the parallel, we’ll point to Duvet in New York City and Vessel in San Francisco as examples. At both nightclubs, exclusivity is generated by having 1) a popular concept; 2) a quality product to back it up; and 3) an admissions requirement (AKA The List).
Let’s focus on the ‘exclusivity factor’-the dreaded List. The List assumedly attracts a high caliber of city dwellers while repelling the less desirable. If you’re not on the ‘List’, well then, you’re not getting in. Having said that, even at places like Duvet, there are always ways to get into the club even if you’re not on the list. That’s what makes the process so exciting and the psychic benefit of figuring out how to get in so much fun. You might literally find a back door where a friend inside can let you in, you might pay off the bouncer with a cool 20 dollar bill or you might just create a beautiful enough first impression on the bouncer that he pulls the velvet rope as he admires your short skirt floating by. If, ultimately, you succeed in getting in via one of these ‘back doors’ your actual experience having figured out a way to get in is much more powerful and rewarding from an emotional standpoint.
Once in, there are VIP levels (often table service) for those willing to shell out more cash for the added privilege and prestige. This scenario is actually quite similar to the ‘Face the Nation’ admissions process at Fuego Nation Online. The parallels, components of what we refer to as ‘The Game of Life‘ follow below:
1. As an applicant to FNO you play both the bouncer and the bounced. Similar to American Idol, the voting process is entirely democratic; so, while we set the parameters for admission (e.g. total approval votes required to attain Basic membership) we do not determine who does, or does not, get in; The process is entirely both automated and democratic which is what distinguishes our product from every other ‘closed network’ and allows us to make our basic membership pool as large as we want
2. Since there is no list, no one is on it; This means everyone needs to ‘earn’ his or her entrance thus generating the exclusive component of our brand
3. Applicants must generate the best first impression they can via our Passion Cards, then figure out how to supplement that impression with clever ambition; This is why we refer to this process as ‘The Game of Life’ because it is designed to mimic the ‘connection’ process in the real world
4. So while physical attractiveness may help you get in (via the photo component), this isn’t necessarily the case; it depends on what the community determines is ‘cool, talented and desirable;’ good looks might actually backfire if enough applicants focus specifically on core talents
5. Since charter applicants will help ‘arbitrate the definition of cool’ we anticipate that this might trigger viral activity as friends recruit other friends to help define the basic membership trends in the club; If you have a friend who is already a Basic member, they can get you a Club Pass which essentially gets you around the ‘bouncer’ by generating a huge boost of points to help you gain admission; In this case, both the person giving the pass and the receiver of the ‘gift’ feel better about the product experience as a result
6. Although we won’t launch with the opportunity to ‘pay off the bouncer’ the opportunity for us to create a micro-transaction (i.e. a cover charge) is an opportunity for us to generate more revenue down the road
7. Now that you’re into an exclusive hot spot with a quality product to back up the ‘hype’ (and feel that much better about the product because you had to ‘get in’ vs. ‘just walking in’ at a place like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc.) you’ll notice that there are levels of service, mainly a VIP section; If you want, you can purchase the added benefit, prestige and status of this product or aspire to do so some other time; this, functionally is how status levels work in FNO
This brings us to a revenue opportunity unique to Fuego Nation-that is, offline events. Getting back to the DNA of Data, if we successfully generate a tighter grouping of ‘cool, talented and ambitious people’ coupled with a brand that indicates ‘human excellence and endeavor’ we’ll be able to export that database into a collective community. This collective community might end up being an offline nightclub experience, professional networking event, climbing expedition, etc. Staying with the nightclub example, we might find a proud venue with poor traffic long past its prime. I’ll use The Ramp in San Francisco to illustrate this point. The Ramp could have tumbleweeds running through its dance floor one night and teeming throngs of talented, higher income Fuego Nation members the next. In other words, we can make a formerly dead club hop in a matter of days and collect 15% of gross receipt for the simple process of redirecting an existing database to a specific offline event. The event itself would be a Fuego Nation VIP member-only affair with an exclusive guest List. There’s the dreaded list again…only, this time, you’re on it. If you’re not on the list, you’re not getting in. Members might be attracted to this opportunity because of the power of brand association and because they KNOW that the general quality of attendees will be higher than anywhere else. Offline events are just one example of leveraging the high-end database of users we’re generating through our online product and only hints at the many revenue-generating opportunities in front of us.
