Erin Griffith writes about the Obvious philosophy:

When Branch began pitching itself to investors earlier this year, the company’s founders proudly proclaimed that the young company was already profitable. They were selling “sponsored branches” for $50 a pop.

The Obvious team told them to stop that immediately. They said, “If you’re worried about being profitable now, you’re not building a big business,” Miller says. Branch should build something that could change the world and think about profitability later, they advised.

Sponsored branches at $50 a pop was pretty brilliant.

I do not agree with the advice not to monetize.

This is interesting. I wonder what Twitter would look like today if they had thought about monetization from the beginning? Possibly they wouldn't be in the same scramble they are today.

Definitely wouldn't be in the same scramble they are today.

Perhaps it would look like app.net.

Or maybe they'd look like something completely different. Hard to tell.