Sitepoint: Ideas = exchange = business
Tuesday, 22 April 2008
Last Updated: Tuesday, 22 April 2008
By Amanda Gome
Web 2.0 pioneer Mark Harbottle, 35, is changing direction. After putting in a general manager to run his fast growing company Sitepoint, he has started another business, 99designs.com, from an idea that grew out of his forums.
He tells Amanda Gome how he is building his new start-up, the hot new trends he sees in the offing, and where to from here.
Mark is willing and keen to share his knowledge with you. Got some questions for Mark? Email them to feedback@smartcompany.com.au. (Reader Matt Cumming has a question, and Mark answers; see last page.)
Amanda Gome: How did it all come about?
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Mark Harbottle: We started Sitepoint in 1999 to provide useful resources to people who make their living building websites. We monetised it by selling educational products such as books and videos. We sell advertising space mainly to hosting and software companies.
Then our community forums grew into some of the biggest in the world for web designers and developers. It now attracts three million people a month. We have 250,000 registered forum members and about 480,000 newsletter subscribers.
Why have you put a general manager in Sitepoint and what is your involvement?
You can’t be everywhere doing everything. I have a great team and I sit on the board and attend management meetings as an adviser. My interest is in starting up new things. (Sitepoint’s revenue is almost $7 million.)
How long after you started Sitepoint did you know it was going to be a success?
I think all businesses by their very nature are in a state of flux, so it can be dangerous to consider yourself or your business as a success – things can change very quickly. The second you rest on your laurels you stop growing, and if you’re not growing you’re going out of business.
Having said that, I've always aimed to remove myself from the day-to-day running of Sitepoint – I thought if I could do that and business continued to prosper, then we’ve got the business model and our systems right. That happened for me about five years after starting the business, which was a few years ago now.
Your latest business involves crowd sourcing. What is it?
It means drawing on a large group of people to help you produce a result rather than just relying on a consultant or freelancer.
The new idea for your business grew out of your forums?
Yes. Designers started the competitions in the forums. Designers would say ‘a friend wants a logo for a café – let’s post it up and see who does the best’. So it was started by the designers just for fun, to test themselves and compete. There was no prize money at the start. The people cottoned on and began to post requests to get designers to do things for them. They also realised the designers needed an incentive, so they began to offer prize money. In 2005 it twigged that this was a new business.
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