What Do Conduit And Ebay Have In Common?

    It’s probably just me, but I see one common thread running between several of the highly successful businesses on the Internet today.  I am not talking about user generated content or social networking.  I am referring to applications that give a user tools and let them build what they want.

    Ebay is the master of this model - Absolutely no one compares.  Ebay gives a buyer and seller access to state of the art, ecommerce tools; and charges a small fee for that access.   They opened the service up, did some marketing, and scaled it properly, but in the end, they empower their users to build what they want.

    Conduit, the company TechCrunch recently wrote about, does that exact same thing.  They give a user all to tools necessary to build a custom toolbar for your browser.  Every bell and whistle can be found in their selections.  The search function has some code in there so Conduit can be paid the advertising dollars generated by the toolbar’s use.  But at the end of the day, they give control to their users, which furthers solidifies their company.

    Cafepress and Spreadshirt do the same thing.  Give a user access to fun tools and creative outlets, and the sky is the limit.  Like Ebay and Conduit, they do one thing very well - recognize that their users are their business.

    These kinds of applications are what I see powering the web after it’s 2.0 days.  Just as every business grows and changes, the above business models will too.  But when the dust settles, and the Myspace’s and Flickr’s run their course, these user powered services will be left standing.