Hipstamatic’s Lost Year Searching for the Next Killer Social App ⇥ fastcompany.com

Austin Carr has the fascinating inside story of Hipstamatic’s struggle over the past year for Fast Company:

Hipstamatic’s journey over the past year has been tumultuous, to say the least. As Fast Company has learned from speaking to more than a dozen players involved, Hipstamatic has wrestled with ever-growing social competition, internal tensions, and a lack of product vision–not to mention juggling acquisition interest and worsening term sheets in a post-Facebook IPO world.

Oddly enough, Hipstamatic is one of the only apps of its kind with a solid, simple business plan. They charge for the app, charge for add-ons, and have past partnerships with a variety of third parties. But the app seems to have entirely stalled. It’s a tool, not a network.

This is a three-part series, the first part of which is available today.