Yelp: Patient growth key to success

Here at the ILM 09 conference, Yelp COO Geoff Donaker says that it takes 18 to 36 months for Yelp to gain an adequate density of reviews in a new city. This measured city-by-city growth — instead of blanketing the country all at once — has been key to its success, he said, adding that they’re breaking through the scale barrier. Yelp has 26 million unique users today, up from 15 million late last year.