The "Second Life" of Startups ...

Any unconference you attend, you would always come across few guys who would be evangelizing the concept of SecondLife (SL).Though,I am a member of it since a long time,I could not explore much about SL[courtesy of my laptop ].However today I took some time off to explore SL and it is really quite amazing !!! This great first level experience drove me to write this article

Few notable things from Wikipedia about SL

During a 2001 meeting with investors, Philip Rosedale noticed that the participants were particularly responsive to the collaborative, creative potential of Second Life. As a result, the initial objective-driven, gaming focus of Second Life was shifted to a more user-created, community-driven experience.

As stated above, SL always had the collaborative touch since 2001,however SL is much more than that...SL Grid platform provides companies with a virtual experience, which provides the following advantages

• Increased Productivity
• Effective Collaboration
• Improved Communication
• Enhanced Engagement with your Customers or Audience
• Reduced Business Costs

You can read more about SL Grid here and here

However, every application has its upside(s) & downside(s) and so does SL.Many feel that SL is more close to the Tech-Savvy Community.Excerpt from BusinessWeek -

Typically, only tech-savvy customers are open to using a virtual world to go through the architectural design process. But Bouchoud says he has attracted some business precisely because he's using Second Life. His Web site contains a section about Second Life, and if someone visiting his site already has an avatar, she can use the site to "teleport," or be redirected to, his "island"—the equivalent of private property—there. Brouchoud uses an island because it can be password-protected, letting him bar access to anyone other than staff and clients, should he wish to do so.

You can find BW's interesting article on "How startups are using SL to build their brand & grow their business" here and here.Not only SMB's but even companies like Wipro have realized SL's growing importance for it's business.

SL's widespread use is not only restrained to technology; aspiring Filmmakers are using this medium to showcase their talent [Thanks to Prashant Singh for the tip on Pluggd.in] and it's benefits can be extended to other areas like arts, education etc.

Check out this very interesting presentation,that focuses on each and every aspect of SL with respect to business....

Though I am still exploring SL , from the way SL has taken off; we can definitely expect more and more startups [as well as big companies] using SL as a medium to build better customer relationships as well as to cut down costs.