JOHN BORLAND: GeoCities isn't a traditional media company, even as viewed online. Why did you choose something like this, rather than Wired Ventures or a more traditional news company?
TOM EVANS: Well, I think it was the opportunity. When I looked at what GeoCities had to offer, the position that they currently enjoy, the grassroots of organic success of the company, they've developed a significant amount of traffic, they've got great affinity on the part of the homesteaders. And I think it's an opportunity -- because it's been underpromoted and undersold -- to really do something with it. And the timing is right for my involvement.

"Well, I think you can look at personal publishing, it's not unlike some of the other models, it's not unlike AOL or some other places where you go for content."

JOHN BORLAND: Do you see it as a media company?
TOM EVANS: It certainly has an opportunity to be a significant media company. But there are things to do, and figuring out the business model and the development of multiple revenue streams, and really making it a workable, actionable business model is obviously what I'm going to attempt to do.

JOHN BORLAND: The content essentially is produced by the homesteaders?
TOM EVANS: That's correct.

JOHN BORLAND: In a sense, this would be the equivalent of vanity publishing in the traditional world.
TOM EVANS: Well, I think you can look at personal publishing, it's not unlike some of the other models, it's not unlike AOL or some other places where you go for content. Some of it is personal published content, and the quality of the content is surprisingly good in many cases. And we really think there are publishing ventures, people publishing now that you wouldn't have traditionally looked at as fine content sources. But as I said, the quality in some places is quite good and quite creative and quite innovative -- and not likely to come from a traditional publishing company or media company. C O N T I N U E D . . . 2 of 2

"But I just think there are going to be winners and there are going to be losers, as there are in the magazine world, as there are in the cable and television world."

JOHN BORLAND: Do you see GeoCities' business as being a media company, in the sense of relaying its homesteaders' messages and pages to the outside world, or is it primarily a Web hosting company?
TOM EVANS: I think it's both. It's certainly a Web hosting company. But I do think as the content evolves and as the content improves and it grows and becomes more content rich...And I think there are a lot of things you could do to integrate content into the GeoCities area. I don't see any restrictions in terms of the kinds of content that will be allowed into GeoCities, except for pornography and some other things that are offensive.

JOHN BORLAND: You've had extensive experience with successful traditional print companies. What are some of the barriers you see to profitability in online media companies?
TOM EVANS: Well, I think the bifurcation of media and the focus of advertising dollars, and the finite amount of advertising dollars, particularly that committed to the Internet at this point, is a barrier. But I think it's growing exponentially, just from the figures I've read. If they're anywhere near close to reality, it's tremendous growth and it's tremendously exciting.

But I just think there are going to be winners and there are going to be losers, as there are in the magazine world, as there are in the cable and television world. And I think the people with the best content, the richest environment, and the largest distribution channels are going to win.

"And I think the people with the best content, the richest environment, and the largest distribution channels are going to win."

JOHN BORLAND: Some of the more pessimistic pundits have already predicted the death of content on the Web. You clearly don't agree?
TOM EVANS: No, I don't. Those are probably the same people who predicted that with VCRs, nobody would go to movie theaters anymore, or with the advent of television, radio would go out of business. I haven't seen that yet. I think content is important, but I think distribution is critical.

JOHN BORLAND: With very few exceptions, the most successful companies online have been things like Amazon or Yahoo or GeoCities, which are essentially offering a service that's not media related, but are increasingly folding media services into their core businesses. Is that the future of new media online, as an appendage to commerce?
TOM EVANS: Well, I think so. Television's probably a great example of that. The promise of television is that we will give you this great program if you will bear through 17 minutes, 22 minutes of commercials per hour. Short of getting people to pay for the content, which is cable, some of the movie channels -- I think the model is going to be advertising subsidized, e-commerce subsidized, premium service subsidized. So I think those are going to be some of the things that will evolve into the workable business models, at least the way it looks right now.

I think you've got to try to develop as many revenue streams as possible, and really focus the company on revenue growth, and development of a winning business model, whatever that is. And the nice thing about the Internet is you can try a lot of things and get some pretty quick feedback on what's working and what's not working.

In the magazine business, we do a subscription drop in the mail, and it's a significant amount of time before we know what worked and what didn't work. On the Internet, the response time is obviously much quicker. You can try a lot of things much more inexpensively than you can in the magazine world.