2m users * 1% conversion rate * $10/yr = $100k = probably not enough for a VC-backed startup.
My suspicion is that because users just used the browser's internal bookmarks they couldn't easily add affordances that would draw attention, leaving no surface on which to advertise. I guess this is one advantage that delicious had, although breaking the bookmarking paradigm to do so was very painful in other ways.
I no longer believe startups who claim their value proposition is "the data will be really valuable someday."
replies(4):