The ultimate aim for most entrepreneurs is to build a business that can eventually stand on it’s own two feet and become it’s own entity, devoid from the original founders but how can you achieve this when you are building on another businesses platform?

I’m going to give you a couple of examples of the most risky business practice around at the moment.

Zynga are connecting the world through games, or so they say. However it seems they are connecting the world through Facebook. The company has built itself up using the Facebook API to build social games such as Farmville and Mafia Wars that are addictive enough to bring in millions of dollars of revenue every year. While Zynga games are not just on Facebook it does make up the majority of their business and here lies the risk. With so much money being made why wouldn’t Facebook themselves get in on the action. Obviously they would also have a competitive advantage over Zynga since it’s their platform and they have no shortage of money to throw at the challenge. Ultimately Zynga’s fate lies in the hands of Facebook who could pull the plug on the company almost whenever it liked. Companies like Zynga may make a fast buck but they cannot be considered sustainable companies that will last the test of time.

Zynga is not the only company that can be considered unsustainable. With Twitter buying the Tweetie earlier this month the market for 3rd party Twitter clients is looking more and more shaky. Tweetdeck, Echofone and many others will soon be in competition with Twitter themselves which is a huge step up from the competition they faced previously and likely to put them into difficulties, especially when you think how many people are most likely to buy an official app endorsed or made by Twitter themselves. It almost seems these companies were created with the aim of being bought by Twitter, in which case Tweetie won.

The tech industry is littered with ‘me too’ businesses and business that add functionality to other products or services. So often these companies get funded by angel investors and often people mistake them for real money making businesses. (some like zynga do make money but that can’t last long) but the fact is that none of these businesses are safe bets they can get wiped out far to easily by their big brothers who’s API’s they have built on. One of the first lessons you learn in business is to diversify and not put all your eggs in one basket. The web 2.0 world should remember that.