Interview with Keith, owner of Subeta.net

[cpvr]

Hi Keith, you are the owner of Subeta, Squiby, and Valenth, correct?
Yup. Also own (but don't run) NeuroGalaxy.

How long have you been a web developer?
As long as I've had a computer.

Where do you see the Virtual Pet Site community in 3 years time?
I don't really know. I know where I'm steering my site, and my business in general, and I think that the rest of the sites will follow that sort of model. Which is mostly just making things far more social.

Whats your favourite thing about pet sites in general?
The competition between users, I think. It's not really a huge deal if you get 100,000sP but if you're in a race with another user to get that same amount it makes it more exciting. We add to this with things like achievements which are worth nothing, but users strive to collect them.

Can you tell us anything more about yourself?
I'm 21 years old. I'm pretty much an open book so if there is anything you want to know about me, I've .

What is the hardest thing about running a large site like Subeta?
The business aspect of it. When I was young I didn't really care about anything like taxes, proper 1099 forms for contractors, having non-disclosure agreements, making payroll etc. Now we're a real company that has to fill out forms for every state we have an employee in, pay taxes to those states, etc. It's become a lot more work than I thought it ever would, but I really enjoy it.

When did you first get involved in the pet-site industry?
When Neopets was still owned by Doug.

What are your sites, Subeta, Valenth and Squiby, about?
Subeta is more than a pet site. We're a social human avatar and pet site, at this point. Our human avatar feature has been a smash hit and now every other pet site has to include it as a basic feature. We've got over 10,000 different clothes that you can use. We've got more species of pets than Neopets, and more color choices that change the base.

Valenth is an adoptable site with a huge backstory that we plan to develop outside of the web in the future.

Squiby is a deviantart for adoptables. You can create an account, and start uploading adoptables and then hand them out to other users / all over the web. We've got millions of image views per day.

Who would your Idol in the virtual pet site world be?
Anyone who innovates.

How did you get in to web developing?
I had a computer, and wanted to learn to do awesome things.

What was the inspiration behind Subeta? Is it true Subeta is now the third biggest pet-site on the web?
It depends how you measure 'big'. We've got less members than Marapets but generally we've got more users online than them now. Especially during plots, during the last one (Zombie Invasion) we had 2,000+ users online every day. So in some ways, we're the second biggest, in others we're the third.

Do you have any tips or advice for people who want to become a website developer?
Learn how to write code. Don't pay other people to do it.

[SpunkiSpirou]

Legend

[cpvr]

Legend

Yup, the interview was pretty short though, perhaps we can try to get a part 2 later this year, or something.

[SpunkiSpirou]

Yup, the interview was pretty short though, perhaps we can try to get a part 2 later this year, or something.

I only read bits of it. I say Legend cause its like well what I've read/heard of Keith online its like wow. Although with the way the internet is, I don't know how much of it is actually 100% true.

[cpvr]

I only read bits of it. I say Legend cause its like well what I've read/heard of Keith online its like wow. Although with the way the internet is, I don't know how much of it is actually 100% true.

Ya, he is pretty popular online, I agree.

[Jammybee]

I absolutely loved this interview!

I spend my spare time on Subeta and that site is the one thing that keeps me and my online friend connected since we met some 6 years ago!

[cpvr]

I absolutely loved this interview!

I spend my spare time on Subeta and that site is the one thing that keeps me and my online friend connected since we met some 6 years ago!

It's amazing how Subeta has managed to keep people connected over the past few years.

How does everyone feel that Subeta has had a lot more social features over the years? Are they moving in the right direction?