Privacy Pendulum Swings

Shaan Puri shares his evolving perspective on privacy in tech products, noting a significant shift from skepticism to believing it's a viable business strategy. He observes that consumer privacy concerns are growing due to accumulated negative experiences with big tech companies.

Key Points:

• Historical Perspective:

  • Previously believed people would easily trade privacy for free services
  • Thought privacy concerns were theoretical but not practical
  • Has since changed his view based on market trends

• Privacy Concern Evolution:

  • Consumer trust erodes through accumulated negative experiences
  • Multiple factors contribute:
    • Repeated data breaches
    • Facebook fake news issues
    • Constant security breach notifications
  • The "pendulum is swinging" toward increased privacy concerns

• Business Strategy for Privacy-Focused Products:

  • Must target globally used products to succeed
    • Search (like DuckDuckGo)
    • Email (like hey.com)
  • Can't work with niche products
    • A "niche of a niche" won't have enough market size
  • Only need to capture small market share:
    • 1-2% of users who highly value privacy
    • Can still build billion-dollar companies

• Market Validation:

  • DuckDuckGo reaching 62M queries per day
  • Shows viable market for privacy-focused alternatives
  • Even at 3% of Google's size, demonstrates significant demand

• Business Model Compatibility:

  • Privacy doesn't necessarily "ruin the business model"
  • Can still monetize through contextual advertising
  • Don't need personal data for effective ad targeting in high-intent situations