I wrote a post a while back about my observations on a demo that Renkoo did at the Techdirt Greenhouse event. Basically, I took the provocative position that I didn’t understand what their business was. Fast forward to today and some things are getting clearer.
First and foremost, as evidenced by the fact that they have 3 million Facebook users it is clear that there is something there "there". Whether or not that can be converted into a self-sustaining business is another thing altogether, but I suspect that is entirely doable in their case.
If you look at the trajectory that social networks and modern media are on, there is a logical point of intersection that meets media’s objectives of providing richer and more interactive content, and consumer desires to take advantage of services, even advertiser sponsored ones, that provide some utility regardless of how thin it is.
The other interesting aspect is how so many of these startups are focused, whether they realize it or not, on fashion, travel and lifestyle categories. I sometimes wonder if the evolution of the Web is mimicking real life, first we focus on the essentials only later to devote the bulk of our energy to entertaining ourselves.