Startup Suffers From Too Much Buzz

Perhaps you’ve heard about Flipboard, the new mobile application that converts social media streams into an elegant, magazine-like presentation.

The app launched to much fanfare, receiving hype from the likes of actor Ashton Kutcher and tech-industry networker Robert Scoble. However, the flood of attention overwhelmed the company’s servers, leading people to a product that wasn’t available. Writes The New York Times‘ Claire Cain Miller:

…the bigger lesson learned, [Flipboard founder] Mr. McCue said, was how much Twitter has changed the game of public relations and introducing a new company since 1999, when he co-founded his previous company, Tellme, which was acquired by Microsoft.

As we have written about in The Times, introducing a start-up is no longer just about briefing the right reporters. It is also about ensuring that influential people, not just journalists, spread the message on Twitter and other social networking sites.

While the startup received attention from what some may say are all the right influencers, it couldn’t handle the response. It’s a problem some startups wish they had.

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