Where Vine went wrong, and how creatives can learn from it

I recently listened to a podcast on the rise and fall of the Vine app called "Vine Six Seconds That Changed The World."

Biggest takeaway: they failed because they didn’t think of monetization within the concept.
I think this is a bit of a recurring theme in tech and entertainment.

With traditional products we think about how to solve a problem or meet a desire of consumers, because if we can do that we automatically build in the perceived monetary value.

With tech and entertainment though, often these things are after thoughts. We’re thinking more about, “Wouldn’t it be cool if___” instead of “this is something people will be looking for.”

I think a lot of indie stuff is suffering from this. We’re meeting a need that’s never been expressed in any big way.

If we can drill down into what those needs and desires are, we can find a tribe willing to buy what we’re selling. But that sort of research and discovery should happen alongside or even before the development of the entertainment or product, rather than rationalized after the fact.
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This also applies to not for profit projects, albeit differently. Even if you're a church or non-profit project, you still need to ask "what need am I meeting?" rather than thinking of that after the fact while we scratch our heads wondering why no one attends our church services or utilizes our non-profit.