Dan Matthews has abandoned traditional media to start his own digital publishing company, Point & Fire Media, that will office advice, news and comment for start-up businesses and entrepreneurs.
LaunchLab.co.uk will start in late March, alongside a web advertising service that will sell ads with the 'MessageSpace' network. The company officially started at the end of last year with backing from a handful of private investors.
Matthews is one of three staff in their new London office, and though he acknowledges that advertising-based businesses could be in for a tough time this year, he says their targets are modest.
Point & Fire founders James Cleverly and Dan Matthews
• Explain your business to my Mum.
"We produce business-focused websites and sell advertising space on behalf of other online publishers - particularly popular bloggers."
• How do you make money?
"We are finalising a contract with two online publishers to sell ads for them - we take a small percentage of the takings as a commission.
"Our first in-house website, launchlab.co.uk, is aimed at the start-up community, and is due for launch towards the end of March. That will make money through standard advertising, sponsorship and revenue-share deals."
• What's your background?
"I'm a journalist, and have worked in the editorial departments of websites and magazines since 2000. Most recently I was online publisher at Caspian Publishing and contributing editor of Real Business Magazine. I still contribute to these occasionally."
• How many users do you have now, and what's your target within 12 months?
"So far this month we've had 135 visitors and 469 page views - that's pretty good going given that we haven't built any sites yet. LaunchLab.co.uk is a single holding page, and pointandfiremedia.co.uk is a temporary site which will be replaced within six months.
"Our target for launchlab.co.uk is 250,000 page impressions per month by November."
• Who is your competition?
"Anyone who sells online ads on behalf of clients. I don't see other web publishers as rivals, because it's so much better to collaborate with them online. We're doing business with companies that would be seen as rivals in another market, and we're very comfortable doing that."
• What's your biggest challenge?
"Predicting the future. The economy is entering a choppy period and advertising (our main revenue stream) is often a big thing companies cut back on. Another challenge is adapting to this fast-changing market while sticking to our core objectives and without overstretching ourselves."
• If you have £10m to invest in another web business, what would you invest in?
"I don't think I would. It's very difficult to judge what will work and what won't online. Of course, I'd back myself, but that's different.
"If pushed I'd stick £10m behind Jimmy Wales and his Wiki projects. He has a solid base of traffic, a reputation, and the golden touch."
• What's the weirdest business experience you've had so far?
"Despite initially applying for a bank account in November, we still haven't been given the all clear.
"One minute they say they have all the documents, the next they need more information. We're not even after a loan! Essentially, we just want to give them our money to look after. It's bizarre."
• Where do you want the company to be in five years?
"Five years is a lifetime. In two years we want to have built a neat portfolio of websites and have a thriving ad sales business. In that time we're looking to grow to around £1m turnover and 10 staff. But it's so difficult to predict."
• Are you the next big thing?
"No. But we are the next smart thing. Our plan is for steady growth and modest targets. We're not a social networking site that's going to explode, but we're not going to fall flat on our faces either."
