It's the return of the always entertaining, deeply profound Executive Suite (Web edition), where we have the pleasure of catching up with many of the industry's most influential individuals who provide their insights and opinions on all sorts of topics.
This week we are very excited to welcome Connor Young, president of the YNOT Network, to wax philosophical about the latest news at YNOT headquarters, the Next Big Thing in the 'biz, the state of the industry, and other interesting matters.
Daniels: What is the formula that has made YNOT such a long-running success?
Young: A number of things have gone into that. First, YNOT was blessed with a very capable staff right from the start. We have some fantastic people working for us now, and we have always had a top-notch staff. Second, YNOT provides services that are useful. The YNOT Service Directory is a perfect example—webmasters know that when they need to find hosting, content, affiliate programs, design services, whatever, that they can find what they need in the YNOT Service Directory. Third, YNOT has always been concerned with the long term. We're in this business for life, so when we make decisions we think about how those decisions will affect us not just in the short term, but also two, five, 10 years from now. All of these things have contributed to YNOT's reputation as an ethical and reliable player in the online adult entertainment business.
Describe a typical day for you.
In a word: multitasking. I'm all over the place. In the mornings I usually spend some time working with our writers, identifying relevant industry news stories that we might want to pursue, and discussing possible editorials for future publication on YNOT.com. Then it's a matter of making sure that our various projects are all proceeding on schedule, which means checking in with our designers, webmasters, coders, and marketing staff and coordinating efforts between the teams. If everything is fine there, I'll spend some time taking a birds-eye view of the company, asking myself if we're operating as efficiently as we could, identifying problem areas, and giving some thought to the future. Next, I spend some time replying to emails, keeping in touch with other companies, and knocking off any miscellaneous tasks that have surfaced during the day. My favorite part of the job, though, is scheming up new ways to make YNOT a better company. With a company like YNOT, there are a lot of exciting growth possibilities. It's just a matter of determining which hold the most promise.
As president of YNOT, what do you see as your No. 1 objective?
To increase the company's bottom line without sacrificing our commitment to solid business ethics.
What's the best/worst advice you've ever gotten?
Best advice was to keep message boards from occupying too much of my time. I rarely post now, and I'm a lot more productive as a result. Fewer gray hairs, too. Worst advice? Well, the worst advice given to me also relates to message boards. Not that I'm trying to pick on boards, but, thank God, I never followed some of the legal advice offered by webmasters on industry message boards. We're fortunate to have attorney Eric Bernstein looking after us.
What is your opinion on the state of the adult Internet industry? Would you say we're in an upswing, or is business in a slowdown phase?
Upswing—no doubt about it. A lot of us who got into the industry back in 1996 and 1997 were fresh out of college and were making things up as we went. I'm proud to see how far some of our companies have come, and how well we all know this business now. Take affiliate programs: It would take years for a new industry arrival to build an affiliate program with the kind of sophistication as existing programs run by guys like Kevin Ho, Mike Price, Steve Lightspeed, and Platinum Dave.
These guys know how to run an affiliate program, how to retain members, how to build traffic, what content sells, and how to maximize the value of each conversion. The original video content we produce as an industry is also better than ever, and some guys are even crossing over to DVD. This industry is far more sophisticated than it was just a few years ago, and that's why we're in an upswing. The downside, of course, is that it's harder than ever for newcomers to compete, but there's still plenty of opportunity for creative entrepreneurs with a commitment to stick it out until they find something that works.
What were you doing before you arrived here in adult Internet entertainment?
I was working for a small mainstream software company in California.
Looking back to when you started in this business, is there anything you would have done differently?
Oh, no doubt—absolutely. I would have spent less time having fun and more time on business. It's not that I regret my start – I have some memories of just wild, wild times that I'll always carry with me – but there was a limited window of opportunity in the late 1990s that was unique. I seriously doubt the adult Internet will ever see anything like that again.
What do you think is going to be the Next Big Thing in adult Internet entertainment?
Not mobile phone porn. Seriously, I never understood why so much energy was spent on that market when it seems to me that porn surfing will always be more satisfying on a PC. For most adult companies, I see mobile as a nice supplemental market at best—I mean, I get why companies like Playboy are paying attention. They have the resources to pursue mobile without it distracting from other content delivery methods. Podcasting shows some promise for growth.
Beyond that, I see a lot of opportunity with TV and Internet hybrid technologies like DVRs. Tivo is coming up with some clever ways to push content straight to consumers. How long until an adult Internet company gets its own DVR into millions of living rooms? The company that controls that technology also controls what content its users get to see. Imagine how much power that company would have in this business.
What does the future hold for YNOT?
Here's what I can tell you as of now: Fans of YNOT Radio should definitely look forward to on-demand programming. No more having to rearrange your schedule around your favorite YNOT Radio shows: If you miss the show live, just listen to it later when you have time. Download your favorite shows to your MP3 player and listen to them on your way to the office, to a friend's house, or wherever. Podcasting and past show archives should be online at YNOTRadio.com any day now.
We also will be introducing a very cool free software tool at Phoenix called YNOT Alerts. YNOT Alerts is a desktop news alerts application invented by our Chief Technology Officer Cash Coleman, and frankly, it will revolutionize the way YNOT users get their industry news. The full initial release of YNOT Alerts is probably about a month away, but in the meantime, anyone who wants a preview copy needs only to ask. We will be handing out preview copies in Phoenix. We are also on the verge of announcing the return of a major affiliate program. I can't provide any details just yet, but look for an announcement very soon. And, of course, we're always working on improvements for YNOT.com. We expect a new version of the website later this year.
