Angel investor Ron Conway recent decided to target his new investments at so-called “real-time” Internet social startups.
"It's early days," says angel investor Ron Conway. "It's Google in 1998."
So it is no surprise he believes these emerging companies can make big money – including Twitter, which has already taken some of his money.
“Twitter absolutely can be a business,” he said during an appearance Friday at the CrunchUp conference in Redwood City. “They are building a very powerful brand.”
So, what opportunities do real-time startups have to turn Twitter-like data streams into cash? Here are Conway’s top ten ways:
*Lead generation
*Coupons (a $500 million opportunity)
*Analytics
*CRM (enterprise customer relationship management on the Web)
*Payments (massive opportunity)
*Commerce
*User authentication
*Syndication of ads
*Selling contextual and display advertising
*Selling followers to corporate clients
Conway didn’t say when he expected revenue to start to flow. “Whatever this is, it’s early days,” he says. “It’s Google in 1998.”
