# Metcalfe's Law > "The systemic value of compatibly communicating devices grows as a square of their number." --Robert Metcalfe, "Metcalfe's Law Recurses Down the Long Tail of Social Networking", 2006-08 "The systemic value of compatibly communicating devices grows as a square of their number." --, "Metcalfe's Law Recurses Down the Long Tail of Social Networking", <2006-08> --- From [The Cold Start Problem: How to Start and Scale Network Effect](https://wiki.g15e.com/pages/The%20Cold%20Start%20Problem%20-%20How%20to%20Start%20and%20Scale%20Network%20Effect.txt): > Originally formulated in the [1980s](https://wiki.g15e.com/pages/1980s.txt) by , an early computer networking pioneer, this theory defines the value of a network as a mathematical function based on the number of connected devices (fax machines, telephones, etc.). It was originally derived from Metcalfe's experiences selling , a pre-internet computer networking protocol. … > > However, with the benefit of hindsight, it's not clear why Metcalfe's Law ought to apply to building internet websites. > > **Metcalfe's Flaws**: > > Metcalfe's Law leaves out important phases of building a network, like what you do right at the beginning when no one is using your product. Nor does it consider the quality of user engagement, and the multi-sidedness of many networks—buyers and sellers, for example. Nor the difference between "active users" versus just people who have signed up, or the degraded experience of a product as too many users start to overcrowd a network. This is far beyond the simple model of "more nodes is better."