Two years ago, when social networking was all the rage, a lot of dedicated community websites for specific (and often very small) groups of people were launched by entrepreneurs trying to cash in on the hype by carving out a certain niche. The strategy proved successful for some, but for others … not so much. And now that the economic crisis is weighing down on the entire industry, with advertisers cutting their overall budgets and the online spend decreasing rapidly, the wheat is getting separated from the chaff faster than expected.
Update: on 26 March 2009, a private equity fund acquired Sneakerplay. More info here.
One niche social network shutting down is Sneakerplay, an online community targeted at people who love their sneakers so much they need their own special place on the net to talk about them and share pictures of their favorite shoes with each other. That was the idea. But guess what? People don’t love their sneakers enough to bond with other people over them on an ongoing basis. At least not enough people to build an actual business around it.
To be perfectly fair, the founders never expected all that much from it either, at least not for long. In the blog post announcing the demise of the service, the founders are quite open about the fact that they lost their focus along the way.
Over time, we’ve realized that we weren’t committing the same amount of energy as we did in the beginning. Our focus has been diverted by other projects that we’re currently working on. We think it’s not fair to you guys to not support Sneakerplay the way it’s meant to be supported. Sneakerplay really needs a new home. We believe in the right hands, Sneakerplay can flourish. It needs someone who can nurture it, build new features, and give it the right attention it needs.
Sneakerplay started on a shoestring budget ($1500) and never attracted any outside financing, so it was always more of a hobby project, although the 3 friends who started the social network did get a nice return on the money they put in (and then some) thanks to sponsorship and support from brands like Adidas, Nike, EA Sports and Microsoft. You can ask yourself what this might mean for other niche social networks: if turning Sneakerplay into something that made more money than it cost wasn’t even sufficient to keep these guys motivated, how many other niche social networks will be closing their doors soon?
As you can read on their blog, the founders are still trying to turn the shutdown into a sale, but that’s rather unlikely since the social network never got any real traction. They are, however, pitching the idea of a sale to MTV and Complex (who operates a competing network dubbed KicksOnFire) so maybe they’ll still be able to flip it.
For now, we’re putting Sneakerplay into the deadpool.
Update: per comment below, Sneakerplay says they’re not shutting down, but in fact they are. Keeping the website online and hoping for a buyer while not actively trying to grow and calling it in fact “a bitter sweet end for us” is effectively the same as discontinuing the social network. Looking at the graph below, it’s no surprise either.
Best of luck on your next projects!
You think they’ll let me have their user database?
sneakerplay sounds like a gambling site.
I wouldn’t comment too much on naming stuff if I were you. RobinLocator.
Its funny.. I checked your site out. I dont even know what it’s supposed to be about. Didnt capture my short attention span… Good luck though
I had a tough time Locating anything meaningful…
yeah it is like a gambling site
http://www.iamlittle.net
lol
“Sneakerplay started on a shoestring budget”
You just had to go there, didn’t you…
I’m glad someone noticed, at least.
just do it
The site seems very basic and lacking content around the subject e.g. sneaker reviews, news and articles or maybe a database of sneakers. The site could have done much better if they hadn’t relied entirely on basic community features such as profiles, blogs and photos.
yes I checked it out, and they should probably have left the profile features to the big social networks and focused more on sneaker content, ratings, news, etc. (generated by the users or otherwise)… I hope this isn’t forecasting the end of people’s fascination with sneakers!
also, its sad to see a team give up on a profitable company… My guess is that they have negative growth so its just too hard to turn it around
anyone know the asking price?
http://makkale....i_30285761.html
*thanks
*good idea
Does this mean the ‘Shoehead” culture is on its way out? I haven’t seen too many painted Nike’s around town lately.
Robleh and the other guys at SneakerPlay are smart and have good heads on their shoulders. I’ll be keeping close attention to whatever they’re doing next.
is this really news!
Thanks for the post, but we’re not shutting down. We made this announcement to get the word out and to accelerate the process of finding Sneakerplay a new home.
So you’re keeping the site alive without trying to make it grow? Same difference IMHO (updated the post)
Sneakers suck!
Flip flops rule!
why do i have to be put on a waiting list to become a member, i lover the site i think its better than myspace i love shoes i collect them. i would very very much like to become a member of sneakerplay, write back…..
donte
It’s funny that TechCrunch think it’s newsworthy to discuss the future of their service, when you never thought it was worthy of discussing their service when it was growing.
I don’t know the Sneakerplay team well, but I’ve watched the site since 1996 and even included in a Future of Web Apps presentation in the fall of that year.
Let’s be honest, it was a site made and offered by people passionate about the topic. They never said they we’re going to be the next $100MM property nor rejected acquisition offers. It was a project site, that was actually quite great for what it was.
I can think of plenty of sites and services that kept their sites live in 2002 and 2003 while they worked on other things only to find in 2007 their Google juice was bringing them 1MM uniques and direct solicitations from advertisers.
The laws and norms that control the Yahoos, Glams and VC funded companies of the valley simply do not apply to websites who have goals other than increasing shareholder value.
1996? You really are a visionary Ted!
Opps
I meant 2006. My how the decades pass.
the new owner should change the model, make it a site where people can upload their own sneaker designs, people can then vote for it and the most popular sneakers actually get produced by adidas/nike/puma etc
I’m with Ted above. WTF Robin – the guy said they’re not shutting it down. Your definition of “Shutting down” means you are “not trying to make it grow”. That’s a pretty narrow definition.
I would consider taking over the network, but not for any sum that they would accept. Just like sneakers, don’t have $xx.xxx+ to spend on a social network..
I can’t believe somebody gave them money for this idea.
Sorry to see you go. A fresh set of brains willing to take over (purchase) the site might be a good thing. I can see this project falling under the radar and coming back within a year or so…fresh content and new features. Good luck guys.
This social network idea is one of the dumbest I have ever heard. Sneaker social network. What the!
I can easily see the demise of social giants like Facebook, and probably even MySpace because they will struggle to profit from their business models. As soon as you ask people to pay for Facebook, 80% of users will say: “That’s not for me”, and jump ship.
Social network sites are fast getting old. Something newer and brighter is probably just around the corner waiting to engulf the social networking flame.
Great comment by Ted!
I consulted for Sneakerplay to help them develop an advertising and sponsorship strategy, and I have to say that Robin’s analysis is way off. Sneakerplay hasn’t built a massive user base, but those users happen to be really valuable per capita to major brands. There’s a reason why Nike pours resources into releasing, for example, 100 pairs of a certain sneaker that might only be available at one retailer in the world. It’s because serious sneakerheads are important cultural influencers in the hip hop and streetwear scenes… that are key to any advertiser going after a youth demographic. Whoever acquires Sneakerplay and grows the site will get a strong ROI because of that.
The reason it’s bittersweet for Mo, RJ, and Rob is that they’ve built a community in the truest sense, something that’s really important to a lot of people including many of their close friends. Of course it’s bittersweet to step away from that, regardless of whether the site shuts down. Ted Rheingold is absolutely right: it’s not always about the money!
I’m confident that Sneakerplay will find a buyer and live on, while the founders who started with nothing but a love of sneakers and 1500 bucks will move on to bigger and better things. Isn’t that what web entrepreneurship is supposed to be about? TechCrunch should be celebrating Sneakerplay, not ridiculing it.
Your opinion is duly noted (although I obviously disagree about the potential), thanks for the feedback.
One thing though: this post does not ridicule Sneakerplay as far as I can see, I actually have much respect for the founders having achieved what they have on such a small budget.
Ted Rheingold x Kadisco= 100% truth
Robin,
You are WAY off base… you claim that ‘People don’t love their sneakers enough to bond over them on an ongoing basis.’ You couldn’t be more wrong! SP is like FAMILY… you don’t know how many incredible people I have met on that site, and how many wonderful things have come from it: OSD, the Autobots, NYC S.Crewers, various meet-ups, events, and valuable connections. There is NOTHING out there like SP, and part of the allure is the small community. Everybody knows and respects each other. There is plenty of information on the site about sneakers; you have no idea how many limited releases I have found out about through SP. Lastly, as a fellow journalist, I am APPALLED at the bias of this article. You ridicule SP with such loaded terms as ’shoestring budget,’ and completely ignore comments by the founders, who repeatedly state that the site is NOT shutting down.
Get your facts straight before you publish such crap.
oh yeah i forgot one thing
SP ALL DAY
Wow……………………
This was truly a waste of my time.
Ted, Kadisco, Goodman, and Serenissama………well said.
*Heads over to the rant thread on SP*
Alot of you Tech guys are really looking at this as a way to acquire a site through in some advertisements and switch up things thinking you know how to make it better. First of all, if you don’t collect or if you’re not into sneakers, how do you think you’re gonna run a heavily rooted sneaker site? I’ve some of the ideas you clowns are throwing out and you would be headed for failure. The set up is fine the way it is. Uploading your own sneaker designs, done that one already.
Had an official contest with nike id. you have mostly all of the top street wear and sneaker mags on this site. This is the only street wear sneaker site of this magnitude and it means something to alot of people.
and yes i’m a sneakerplay member
This really sucks
Sneakerplay is like the only website i go to
Damn…
actually no, the reason why they are selling is because “our focus on Sneakerplay has lost its steam.” but im sure you know that since you actually “READ” the article. If you were actually a member of sp you would notice not many updates have been going on as result they figure why continue owning this site if we are no longer in it. Pretty much the conclusion is based on speculation, well not even speculation really considering the owner of Sneakerplay posted a response on here saying infact they werent quiting on sneakerplay.
Now i pretty much expect such bias from those who know absolutely nothing of the sneakerhead culture. because those who hear of the idea think it only deals with shoes when actuallity its deeply inrooted in other medias like art, music, and clothing.