In the United States, numerous companies have made their mark on the web with revenue figures that make many entrepreneurs envious. But do these successes not end up giving a false image of the internet entrepreneurship universe? How did these companies establish themselves? And what can be learned from them to launch your own start-up?

A “pioneer” success story hard to replicate

If big firms like Google and Amazon have asserted themselves online, it’s because they were the first to exploit a given domain. Before Facebook, there was no other social network offering such diverse functionalities. While some see its success as simply a stroke of luck, others justify this global invasion for more concrete reasons:

– a visionary capacity: These companies succeed because they have the ability to foresee new trends and their impact on internet users before anyone else: online shopping, instant messaging, etc.

– an ability to find the right idea: The success of a company is measured by the quality of its concept. However, it’s not enough to come up with an innovative and promising idea, but to launch it at the right time and in the right place.

– exposing a new angle: You don’t necessarily need to create a new idea to succeed. Sometimes, you can borrow an idea and present it in a new light. Certainly, Google isn’t the first search engine, but it’s the first to offer one that indexes your queries.

The success of web giants is mainly based on new ideas or new approaches. It seems difficult today to do the same since the majority of internet niches have already been exploited.

Web giants: a utopian promise for fledgling start-ups

According to the American financial group Bloomberg, 8 out of 10 businesses end in failure, although some of them may eventually rise from their ashes. But most nascent start-ups only see the glass half full.

Taking big names like Fotolia, Virgin, Seloger, or Twitter as reference points isn’t such a bad thing. As long as you keep your feet on the ground:

– assess the difficulties: For example, in creating an online bank, you’ll have Paypal as a benchmark. There’s no need to consider it as a competitor. Take it as a reference and try to identify missing features to make them your advantage.

– stay realistic in your expectations: It would be totally unrealistic to aim for an annual turnover of 60 million like you see at Deezer. If you want to launch a music site, moderate your expectations and set goals that you can achieve. Without this, you’ll quickly be discouraged.

– build an interesting background: You need to take the time to start, succeed, and even fail. Today, success is built gradually by observing the continuous market variations. Your site won’t become the new “eBay” overnight, but with hard work and patience, it might one day.

The colossal revenue figures of American web companies should not mislead start-ups. Proceed step by step. Who knows, a small success might one day turn into international success!