What can we learn from Pownce

So Pownce, once dubbed “The Hottest Startup in the Silcon Valley’, is closing December 15.

Why did it fail? I see several reasons:

1. It wasn’t unique enough. Twitter had already gotten a hold of the micro-blogging market. Although Pownce really started to make waves when Twitter was having server issues and PR problems, it wasn’t THAT different from Tweetland to keep people using it.
2. Have a plan to make money.  Sure, they had premium accounts. But how many? (I certainly wouldn’t have paid for one!) They needed to find a way to make a profit in order to keep going.
3. Don’t get too big for your britches. Kevin Rose backed Pownce, which was a good thing. But it seemed he got a little too cocky with it. (And he used Twitter as well! Come on Kevin, use your own stuff!)

Image credit: nochuckingaround on Flickr