---
title: "Andreessen confirms Ning business model"
date: 2005-10-09
author: "Richard MacManus"
categories:
  - name: "ReadWriteWeb"
    url: "/category/readwriteweb.md"
tags:
  - name: "2005"
    url: "/tag/2005.md"
---

# Andreessen confirms Ning business model

Marc Andreessen popped into [Alex Barnett’s comments](https://web.archive.org/web/20060508060639/http://blogs.msdn.com/alexbarn/archive/2005/10/08/478700.aspx) to confirm the business goals of [Ning](https://web.archive.org/web/20060508060639/http://www.ning.com/). In response to Alex’s well-written analysis of what Ning is trying to accomplish, Marc commented:

*“Alex — your description of what we are trying to do is very well said. It’s an experiment, but those are the goals.*

*We are going to see if we can generate enough revenue through a blend of advertising (like Google, Yahoo, etc.) and premium services to be able to support what we are doing, including the free developer accounts.”*

So advertising and premium services are the main business models, at this point. I also wonder whether Ning will in future arrange to get a slice of any revenue that services built with Ning make. For example, if someone creates a mash-up that brings in advertising revenue, maybe Ning should get a cut? I’m not sure if that’s viable or not.

I noticed that Alex did the good Microsoft employee bit at the end of his post when he said:

*“I’m not privy to discussions taking place at higher echelons of Microsoft but the trend is clear. Microsoft has been banging on about web as a platform for a while now. Microsoft is running with it, indeed driving much of it, and plenty more to come…we’re not the only ones though.”*

Well, I’ll accept the “running with it” bit 😉 Although I do think Microsoft is doing interesting things in the Web 2.0 space.

But anyway, back to Ning. I [checked out their blog](https://web.archive.org/web/20060508060639/http://blog.ning.com/2005/10/some_new_things_tonight.html) tonight to see what new services have been created using Ning (I haven’t had time to dive into the development area). The [Bay Area Hiking Trails](https://web.archive.org/web/20060508060639/http://bayareahikingtrails.ning.com/) is nicely done – I think by [Jonathan Aquino](https://web.archive.org/web/20060508060639/http://jonaquino.blogspot.com/), but I couldn’t find any mention of it on his blog. The other services didn’t look that exciting: a [bookshelf](https://web.archive.org/web/20060508060639/http://bookshelf.ning.com/), a [Storyteller app](https://web.archive.org/web/20060508060639/http://storyteller.ning.com/), something called [Confess!](https://web.archive.org/web/20060508060639/http://confess.ning.com/). It’s early days though and Ning is an intriguing development in the web services mash-ups era, so let’s see what develops.

*Originally published on ReadWriteWeb ([archived copy](https://web.archive.org/web/20020204040018/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/andreessen_conf.php))*