At the CommunityNext conference I moderated this panel with the founders of six very successful web properties:

  1. Akash Garg of hi5

  2. Sean Suhl of Suicide Girls

  3. Max Levchin of Slide

  4. James Hong of HotorNot

  5. Markus Frind of PlentyofFish

  6. Drew Curtis of Fark

This is the most amusing panel that I’ve ever moderated, and the speakers defied many conventions of tech entrepreneurship—in particular the ones that venture capitalists believe are “proven.” If you’d like to learn how these companies became successful without “proven teams, proven technology, and proven business models,” you’ll love this video.

Here’s a little factoid that blew my mind: both Fark and PlentyofFish have only one employee!