March 29, 2001

  • Creating a viable revenue model for Xanga is the topic Prometheus is seriously yet humorously tackling over there on his blogspace.   His challenge: "Who can come up with the best ways for xanga to make money."  ...So check that out!

    Meantime...


    It seems Biz Stone himself, creative director of Xanga, Inc., is not impervious to pondering such considerations.  Below are some excerpts from an interview Biz conducted with Evan Williams, the founder of Blogger:


    Labs, Robots, and Giant Floating Brains: The Amazingly True Story of Blogger!, March 9, 2001 in webreview.com


    (beginning of excerpts)


    “Like many others, Blogger found itself in a dangerous situation—up the creek without a revenue model. And so the fabulous "Blogger Seven" was reduced to one. But is this remaining member just a robot? A brain floating in bio fluid? Will Blogger survive?


    To answer these questions and more, Web Review.com recruited me, Biz Stone, self-proclaimed genius.


    …


    (This is Biz with a warning: weak of heart need not read on!)


    Ev:...the Internet bubble burst, the second round of financing was never acquired, we failed to execute on alternative plans to generate revenue, we ran out of money, we flailed around with a couple acquisition and merger deals that never came together, the rest of the team either decided or was forced to leave, I decided to stay and am currently still plugging away.


    Biz: I see. Eh-hem.


    …


    Biz: Hey, whose idea was the "Blogger Server Fund?"


    Ev: Probably the first person, internally, to suggest we ask for voluntary payments from our users was pb. I was never comfortable with the idea, though most of the rest of the team was encouraging it over the last couple of months. As things became more desperate, I became more open to it and finally had the idea to ask specifically for help buying new servers.


    Biz: How much did you end up making total?


    Ev: We ended up with about $12,000 from users, plus another $4,500 from Web Techniques. We bought four new servers. Far beyond my expectations.


    Biz: Wow. I should start the "Biz Server Fund" except instead of buying servers, I'll just pay my overdue taxes—did I just say that out loud?


    …


    Biz: Is it just fundamentally wrong to charge for basic Blogger? Am I gonna get stoned to death for mentioning it?


    Ev: I'm sure some people would be upset if we started charging for basic Blogger, but in general I think there's a growing awareness that the free-lunch Internet is a thing of the past. People realize that the money has to come from somewhere, and based on many emails I've received, I know a lot of Blogger users would be greatly relieved to pay for the service, because they would be more confident it's not going away.


    ...


    Biz: So are you going to focus on Blogger Pro now?


    Ev: I'm not focusing on it yet. I'm trying to figure out a more long-term plan, both in terms of business strategy and technology direction, before I launch Pro—which was based on assumptions that I'm not sure are still valid, regarding where we're going and why. Is that vague enough?


    Biz: Mind games—I'm onto you, Ev—I'm onto you!


    All right, back to business, how do you plan to make money with Blogger?


    Ev: Okay, well, things could change because nothing is official yet, but (knock on wood), by the end of this week, I should be able to announce a deal or two I've been working on that will provide enough income to keep the service up for quite some time—even without charging for it—and that will also be complimentary to a longer-term strategy.


    I do still plan on launching various levels of paid-for versions of the tool, but only when I'm confident I can offer a professional-quality level of service.”


    …


     (end of excerpts)


     …"various levels of paid-for versions of the tool"!  I see the visions of sugarplums dancing in Biz’s head    ~!~!~!~!~


     

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