Wikipedia's Community-Based Business Model - Jimmy Wales March 11, 2010

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Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2010/01/24/Digital_Life_Design_2010_Disruptive

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales reveals that only 30 staffers power Wikipedia, one of the most visited websites on the Internet. While Wales jokes that he is "a really fast typist," he reminds us that "the actual production of the encyclopedia is done by the community."

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In a high-level session, four disruptive entrepreneurs discuss what disruption is all about: Mitchell Baker (Mozilla), Jimmy Wales (Wikipedia), Niklas Zennstrom (Atomico) and - also moderating the discussion - Yossi Vardi (DLD Co-Chairman) all have created organizations or products that disrupted their industries.

It turns out there are a few things all of them have in common: Serving a huge user base with a very small organization; getting the users actively involved in the main business of your company; and an open mind to collaboration and partnership over competition. - DLD

Jimmy Donal "Jimbo" Wales (born August 7, 1966 in Huntsville, Alabama) is the founder, board member and Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit corporation that operates the Wikipedia project, and several other wiki projects, including Wiktionary and Wikinews. He is also the co-founder, along with Angela Beesley, of the for-profit company Wikia, Inc.