Web Masters

In 1994, David Bohnett setup a live webcam pointed out of an office window at the intersection of Hollywood and Vine. That ability to engage in a community on the other side of the world got so popular so quickly that it inspired David to create a system for everyone to create, join, and participate in online communities. He called those communities "GeoCities."

Within five years, GeoCities grew from a simple online website builder into one of the world's most popular social networks (before that was even a thing!), with millions of users and a multi-billion-dollar acquisition from Yahoo!

On this episode of Web Masters, you'll learn how GeoCities got started, how David grew it, and, ultimately, how David sold it in order to continue pursuing his original vision of helping everyone participate on the Internet.

For a complete transcript of the episode, click here.

When Gregg Spiridellis and his brother, Evan, first launched their online animation studio -- JibJab -- in 1999, nobody knew how to monetize short-from video content on the Web. And that was still true five years later when their first massively successful viral video, This Land, spread to millions of people around the world in a matter of days.

But Gregg and his brother knew they were sitting at the front of a media revolution, and, if they kept iterating, they'd eventually find a sustainable business model. And they ultimately did, turning JibJab from a creator of one-off video shorts into one of the Web's largest personalized e-card services.

During the episode, Gregg shares his experiences with Aaron about growing JibJab from a Brooklyn garage working alongside his brother to a Southern California office with 100+ employees and, ultimately, a successful exit.

For a complete transcript of the episode, click here.

Ask any early Internet entrepreneur about the biggest opportunity they feel like they missed in the early days of the Web, and they'll all tell you the same thing: they wish they would have thought to buy all the valuable domain names while they were still available.

Our guest on this episode of Web Masters, Yoni Belousov, didn't exactly buy all the valuable domain names while they were still available in the early 90s, but he's spent his career acquiring plenty of them. In fact, he's currently one of the largest private investors of domains in the world.

During the episode, Yoni shares his experiences with Aaron about buying and selling domains while providing some expert tips on his strategy for getting started in domain investing.

For a complete transcript of the episode, click here.

Also, if you're interested in buying or selling an Internet business, be sure to check out our sponsor, Latonas.com, the Internet's best source for buying and selling  web-based, work-from-home businesses.

In 2000, a New Jersey lawyer wanted to help her children sell their old video games. The local video game shop wouldn't give her what she thought they were worth, so, at her son's urging, she decided to try out a rapidly growing website where anyone could sell their stuff online. That website was eBay. A few days later, she sold the same video games for nearly 10x what the stores had offered her, and she was hooked.

That former lawyer was Linda Lightman. Today, Linda owns Linda's Stuff, the world's largest seller of luxury fashion on eBay.

This episode of Web Masters features host Aaron Dinin in conversation with Linda Lightman as she tells the story of how she grew a business helping her friends sell stuff on eBay from her home into a 100,000 square foot warehouse and $25 million per year in revenues.

For a complete transcript of the episode, click here.

In 1995, a mapping company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania that had been developing CD-ROMS for point-to-point navigation decided to see if it could provide the same service for consumers in real-time using a new technology called the World Wide Web. They contacted the owners of their nearest Internet node -- a local college -- and were given a tie-in to the network.

With access to the Web established, they launched their new website: MapQuest.com. It was an instant hit. MapQuest quickly became one of the most popular websites in the world while completely changing the way the world traveled from place to place.

This episode of Web Masters features host Aaron Dinin in conversation with Chris Heivly, one of MapQuest's co-founders and one of the world's earliest map geeks. He tells the story of how computer mapping grew out of the labs of a niche group of academics and ultimately became the backbone of the global economy.

For a complete transcript of the episode, click here.

These days, kids dream of becoming social media influencers in the same way they've always dreamed of becoming actors, athletes, and politicians. Those dreams are, in part, because of the fame and wealth that comes with online notoriety. But that wasn't always the case. The first social media influencers -- the early bloggers of the late 90s and early 2000s -- weren't creating content because it could make them rich. In fact, it was the opposite. They actively resisted monetizing on their popularity.

That began to change in 2002 when an entrepreneur named Henry Copeland launched a new advertising platform called BlogAds. BlogAds gave bloggers the ability to easily monetize on their content for the first time.

Adoption was slow at first. Bloggers didn't want to violate their personal space with intrusive ads. But, as the demand on bloggers grew alongside their audiences, more and more online influencers began realizing they had to turn their passion into a business if they wanted to survive. Lucky for them, BlogAds was there to help.

This episode of Web Masters features host Aaron Dinin having a conversation with Henry as he shares the story of BlogAds.

For a complete transcript of the episode, click here.

Also, if you're interested in buying or selling an Internet business, be sure to check out our sponsor, Latonas.com, the Internet's best source for buying and selling  web-based, work-from-home businesses.

On July 4th weekend of 1995, Louis Monier deployed a spider across the Internet to search for and catalog all existing web pages. He chose July 4th weekend because he was worried that his spider might break the Internet. And, to be fair, it actually did... at least for New Zealand. As in the entire country of New Zealand.

That initial crawl helped Monier develop the index that would eventually become AltaVista, the world'd leader in web search years before anyone would be using "google" as a verb.

This episode of Web Masters features host Aaron Dinin having a conversation with Louis as he shares the story of AltaVista in his own words and gives some incredible insights into what the earliest days of the Web were like.

For a complete transcript of the episode, click here.

The host of the Web Masters podcast, Aaron Dinin, introduces the show and explains why it was created. You'll also hear interview excerpts from some of the people that'll be featured on the show as they recount the internet businesses they built and how those businesses helped shape the evolution of the World Wide Web.