Andrew Chen has a good post that reviews some of the things you need to consider when deciding between a user generated content and first party (in house) model for your virtual goods implementation. I posted some additional thoughts in the comments, but thought I would re-post and expand here.If you are implementing expressive and behavioral (i.e. gifts) goods, the need for some form of UGC is very high. Virtual goods are largely about self expression, personalization, customization. Which means that the more personal and unique anitem is to a person, the more social value it has, which increases...

This post may be a day late with yesterday’s market rebound, however it still doesn’t fully repair the sting from last weeks massive drop. There was certainly questions and buzz at last weeks Virtual Goods Summit on what effect the economy will have on the virtual goods industry. To take a good look at this I broke down what I think the effect will be among the various constituents in the virtual goods economy. Users and Consumers The most important group out of the economy is of course the ones that are actually plopping down cash for virtual items, the end user. If the economy...

 This Friday you can find myself and a good portion of the Viximo team at the Virtual Goods Summit in San Fran.  I’ll be speaking on a panel with a great lineup titled “What Users Want — Branded and User-Generated Virtual Goods.”  You can get a 10% discount by using the discount code “VIXIMO”Last years VG Summit was extremely good and played an integral role in helping me decide to start Viximo.  This year should be even better with everything that has been going on in the space.  Definitely attend if you can, it will be well worth it.  Conference...