As I mentioned on the Viget blog, I’ll be speaking at the Tech Cocktail Conference in Chicago on May 29th.  Corey, COO at Squidoo, and I will be telling the story of how Squidoo (a Viget client) went from concept to profitability.  There are a couple things about the way they did it that make them a bit unusual compared to a lot of the start-ups you read about:

1. They didn’t take VC.  Granted, it’s easier to self-fund when you‘re already pretty darn successful, but as a philosophy (don’t raise money unless you have to) it’s still important.
2. They don’t charge for anything.  Chicago is home to our friends at 37signals, makers of Basecamp, and advocates of the revolutionary (and for some odd reason controversial) idea of making good software and then charging for it — couldn’t agree more.  Squidoo’s model is different, though, and they’ve made it work to a similar end without needing to charge users a fee.  In fact, you get paid to use Squidoo.  We’ll talk about how & when we think that model can work.

Frank & Eric have put together a great line-up.  If you’ll be in Chicago at the end of the month, come on by …