Fixing failed models on the web = Profit

The biggest stories of web success have revolved around taking activities in the offline world and creating new models and new value online. AOL introduced the world to email and instant messaging in a way as simple as the telephone. EBay took the yard sale global. Google built a better search and yellow page experience online and then level jumped the experience by creating an auction and relevancy based ad market. Those are the big stories and beneath them thousands more have found success and even more are coming up.

One of those companies is GumGum. GumGum looked at photo licensing and felt that fixed-fee pricing for magazines and TV shows made no sense for the web where audience sizes were totally unpredictable and lifecycles were much greater. So...they decided to build a technology that tracked these photos and allowed the owner to make them available to users on a cost per thousand basis or free if they agree to carry an ad.

Now, important disclosure here. I am currently an adviser to this company. Clearly I am a fan. I came on board after the interview I conducted below. That out of the way...let me tell you why I think this is important. Last week GumGum announced new fundingas well as the fact that they have 2000 customers and have become a top 100 site as measured by Quantcast.

Looking back on the interview I conducted last fall with GumGum's CEO, Ophir Tanz, I think you'll appreciate the clarity of the goal and the focus on the problem at hand.

What are some other models that need tweaking for the web?

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This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com