Youtube.com is a well know video sharing website, currently ranked 11 according to Alexa. A lot has already been discussed about youtube so I will not be discussing the obvious (copyright problems, myspace/youtube). I have an interest in the future of youtube because I think it will set the standard on the recent dot COM burst. Everyone knows youtube does not have enough revenue to survive month-to-month expenses. They have attracted investment firms like Sequoia Capital.

Looking at Sequoia Capital you will see a very successful paste: ” Since 1972, Sequoia Capital has provided startup venture capital for very smart people who want to turn ideas into companies. As the “Entrepreneurs Behind the Entrepreneurs,” Sequoia Capital’s Partners have worked with innovators such as Sandy Lerner and Len Bozack of Cisco Systems, Jerry Yang and David Filo of Yahoo!, Gaurav Garg of Redback Networks, Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google, Dan Warmenhoven of Network Appliance, T.J. Rodgers of Cypress Semiconductor, Lou Tomasetta of Vitesse Semiconductor, Steve Jobs of Apple Computer and Larry Ellison of Oracle. The companies organized by Sequoia Capital now account for about 10% of the value of NASDAQ. ”

The kind of success this investment firm has had in the paste might make you think youtube is on the right road to success. This is a new time in the Internet and traditional ways do not apply. Youtube is not a special website at all. Youtube was only the first mainstream website to offer easy video sharing. We continue to see other websites pop up by the handfuls each month with far greater features. The point is if you tube can find a way to successfully make a profitable revenue stream then all the other websites out there that are simply operating to get a user base will get the wrong idea. If we continue to allow websites to come up and survive solely on investment dollars then we are in for a repeat of Internet history. Starting a website or a web service has to be well thought out. Proper planning and business models have to be there from the beginning. Most web services have the idea that if they get big enough some major company will come and handle there debt issues and buy them outright. This is the case in select situations but by far un-likely. Youtube has a very short time left in the days of its popularity and the spotlight is on. Will it remain a company or will it continue to struggle.