Super Deluxe's John Buzzell and Jim DiStefano

Thanks to a Metafilter thread I found this interview of Super Deluxe's John Buzzell, VP of Product Development and Jim DiStefano, Community Director.

From The Apiary:

"Jim: Thanks for the kind words. We're excited about Super Deluxe too. We began brainstorming in late 2005. Product development started soon after and content development kicked off in Summer '06.

The core product team was led by John Buzzell, and consists of Todd Dominey, Robert Occhialini, and myself. This team was responsible for the design and development of Super Deluxe.

The elephant in the room with all broadband networks is: How do they make money? Quality doesn't come cheap, and it sure seems like a lot of time and money went into the site. Is there pressure to be immediately profitable?

John: Broadband programming is strategically very important at Turner, so management isn't pushing us too hard for short term financial results. It's important that we stay true to our artists and the brand we're trying to build. This is reflected in our 'soft launch' strategy. Instead of going for broke with a huge media buy, we're confident enough to let things spread virally--the way that anything good grows on-line.

Besides the videos, what are some of the other features with the site that are worth checking out?

Jim: Well, we're certainly not trying to out-do other social networking sites, but we recognize that people communicate that way, so we didn't want to hold them back. Super Deluxe's social network is built to allow like-minded comedy fans to find each other and share their favorite artists and videos. Our artists and advertisers are active members of the community . Cross-pollination is encouraged, and it's already happening in some spots. It's great to see."