Twitter co-founders on their business model

Twitter's Evan Williams and Biz Stone (far right) on stage with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at the opening keynote Tuesday of D: All Things Digital.

(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET)

CARLSBAD, Calif.--I left the Twitter keynote still wondering what the company's business model will be, but also with a new question.

Why are the co-founders so seemingly uninterested in making money? Haven't they heard about striking while the iron is hot? (Clearly they have. After all, Evan Williams sold Blogger to Google.)

Anyway, after the speech I got a chance to ask them that and more firsthand.

"I wouldn't say we're not focused on the dollars," Williams told CNET News. "We are trying to take a really long-term perspective about how we build a valuable and large company. That takes time and we only have so many resources and there's so much we have to do...it's just a timing thing."

Stone echoed that.

"In order to create a company that has this enduring value, that is going to be here 5, 10, 15, 20 years from now, you have to focus on delivering value first and profit second, especially considering we are only two years old," Stone said. "We have time to work on what will be our business model."

For the full interview, check out the video embedded below.

[Jeff Putz]

I can't be the only one who finds that hilariously 1999. As long as they're running on someone else's money, they're someone's beotch. What happens when the pimp wants his money?

[Len Bullard]

The first question should be 'what is the value of Twitter to a user'? It seems to an inane application that increases the illusion of being in the loop while trivializing the loop itself.

[ca5ter]

Twitter is lame.

[oh4real]

You heard it here first (second, third,???,...): Twitter's biz model is to start requiring smart & mobile phoners to submit content via SMS msg to TWITTR at a fee of $1.99 per ****.

Twitterererers can buy pre-paids in bulk at discount and submit content via SMS to TWITR - a non-fee SMS service.
Any **** originating from the convenience of a mobile (blocked if proxied via one of the ATT, VZW, etc. 3G servers) have to pay for it.

In this model, those "nit" twits who want to conveniently use this lame service from their mobiles, they pay a convenience fee. No advertising model, no invasive marketing - plain ole simple "you want it, you pay for it".

Normal desktop/laptop/wi-fi browser twitting would be free for guests, but charge hosts of twits a monthly service fee to offset the hosting costs.

So that's the model: Twit accounts pay a service fee to cover operating expenses and mobile submitters pay fee to contribute 'on-the-fly' and this is development/cap ex/profit.

Sorry, I don't use the lame service so I don't know the lingo...