My Two Cents on Internet Products

These past few days, I’ve been pondering a lot about Internet products. After reading up on some more materials, I wanted to share a few of my own thoughts.

It’s quite obvious that young people are driving their own thinking and trends into the Internet. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the vast majority of web applications are propelled forward by them. If your heart is no longer “young,” you have no choice but to follow the trends, or abandon the web altogether.

Personally, the reason I chose to build Internet products probably has a lot to do with my personality. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always had tons of “restless” ideas. Most people might just think about them and let them go, but I always wanted to bring them to life. As the Internet became integrated into our daily lives, I realized more and more that I could actually turn some of my wild thoughts into real web products—because that is something within my power to do.

I truly believe the Internet is built on the fresh, bold ideas of young minds. That’s why, if someone’s mind is no longer young, they probably shouldn’t be sitting in a decision-making seat directing the future of an Internet product. They risk making the product rigid, causing it to lose its spark and eventually fade away.

Looking back, my college days were definitely when I was most overflowing with ideas. Back then, it felt like it wouldn’t be hard at all for a few of us to sit down and sketch out a highly successful product. But in the end, ideas remained just ideas, fading away because we never had the chance to actually build them.

As I get older, I find myself having fewer and fewer ideas. In everyday life, losing that creative spark is incredibly sad—and it’s even more devastating when it comes to the Internet.