Web 2.0 The Next Generation of Internet Applications and Business Models

Yesterday, I attended the Web 2.0 panel discussion at the University of Texas, McCombs Business School. The discussion was open to UT MBA students. I, of course, am not an MBA student but, they welcomed me, anyway. Or, what they don’t know won’t hurt them. The panel was a good mix of industry insiders including the following:
• Alex Muse - M | Ventures
• Brian Oberkirch –Weblogs Work, Likeitmatters
• Dave Panos - Pluck.com
• Ben Brown - Consumating
The opening discussion started with introductions, including background information from each panelist. The panelists all had a slightly different perspective on what Web 2.0 means. But, of course, when you have a VC, a CEO, a Consultant and a Bootstrapper on the panel they’ll all have a different agenda. The organizers Kayvaan Ghassemieh and John Reed did a great job of keeping the discussion on topic. One of the things that surprised me the most was, in the beginning of the discussion, the question was asked to the attendees “How many have heard of Web 2.0?” Surprisingly, very few had heard the term. Hopefully, now, they’ll get on the Internet and seek out some of the Web 2.0 companies that were discussed.

It was fun seeing panelist Ben Brown there. Ben runs a site called Consumating; it’s a dating site for hipsters. He and another guy (Adam Mathes) made Consumating for fun about a year ago. After getting a good response, Ben decided to go at it fulltime. I think Consumating is the epitome of a Web 2.0 company. Consumating is owned 100% by Ben and Adam and they have no debt. Therefore, they have been profitable, since day one. For me, that’s one of the big things about the Web 2.0 generation; more focus on the product and less focus on exit strategies. If you build a good product or service, the money will come.

I would like to think Kayvaan Ghassemieh and John Reed for putting the panel together. You can read Kayvann’s event wrap up here. Maybe sometime, soon we’ll see more Web 2.0 companies here in Austin as a result of this panel discussion.

Be sure to check out the panelist’s websites:
Alex Muse - M | Ventures
Brian Oberkirch –Weblogs Work
Dave Panos - Pluck.com
Ben Brown - Consumating.com, austinist.com, benbrown.com

You can also take a look at the Web2.0 Panel Wiki

Here are a couple of snapshots:

Tags: austin, web2.0, techcrunch, texas, consumating, texasvc, austinist, pluck, ben brown