Leah Culver Speaks About Pownce's Future And Business Model

Earlier this week we wrote about Twitter and their lack of a business plan. We also noted that Pownce started with a basic business plan by injecting ads into the feed stream along with a pro account to get people to buy it just to get the pro badge. TechConfidential sat down with Leah Culver, lead developer on Pownce to find out more about the service and answer some of the questions I had. Sure looks like they are headed away from what others say is a rocket-shot to a deadpool.

The key is what Leah says about "didn't want to upset the community by adding those in later". This is so critical I believe. Go into it with these options, users know what to expect. Slap ads or charge for the service later on and you can immediately lose a large percentage of your userbase.

Here are a couple interesting snippets from the interview:

TC: What do you make of the debate going on this week in the blogosphere about the alleged inadequacy of Twitter's business model? In the debate, some have praised Pownce for having established a business model right out of the gate by charging for premium messaging.

Culver: Pownce started off with ads and pro accounts because we didn't want to upset our community by adding these in later versions. You can still use all the best parts of Pownce for free.

TC: Kevin Rose has raised $20 million for his previous startups Digg and Revision3 Corp., and the word is that VCs are lining up to invest in Pownce. Any update on financing?
 
Culver: To date, Pownce is self-funded (and bootstrapped), but that may change very soon. We're at a transition point right now, and Pownce will certainly grow a lot in the next year.

Leah Culver is one of 23 people I'd like to meet in 2008.