[WikiEN-l] How to start a viable competitor to Wikipedia?

[Sarah]

On Thu, Apr 7, 2011 at 12:26, David Gerard <dgerard at gmail.com> wrote:
> Larry Sanger started Citizendium with a detailed plan for precisely
> how it would work, which he detailed in a Slashdot article in 2005 and
> kept firmly to. This produced the weird phenomenon where he treated
> user suggestions like they were *threats*. I just read a Paul Graham
> article which contains a line summing up the problem here:
>
>    If you want a recipe for a startup that's going to die, here it
> is: a couple of founders who have some great idea they know everyone
> is going to love, and that's what they're going to build, no matter
> what.
>
> Knowino (and Argopedia, and the survivors of Citizendium, and everyone
> in fact) needs to look at this and see what they can do. Is there room
> in the encyclopedia game? I sure hope so. How do you beat Wikipedia?
> Work like a startup.
>
One of the key skills that Jimbo brought to Wikipedia was knowing when
to be hands on, and when not. If you look through the early mailing
lists -- not just the very early ones, but the first few years --
that's the thing that shines through again and again. If I had to
point to one issue that made Wikipedia successful it was this ability
to steer without micromanaging.

Sarah