Like many proud fathers, Michael Sawtell had quite a few pictures and videos of his two year old daughter. But he wondered: Where could he put everything in one place online?

After checking a variety of sites, there was nothing that wowed him. So why not start his own?

"We wanted an online destination that would be visually pleasing, safe and only available to the friends and family we wanted to share with," said Sawtell. "Something much more personal than a photo sharing site, and something maybe a little bit fun as well."

The result: TheFamilyPost.com (TFP).

Sawtell wanted to make sure it was easy to use. For example, one customer is 83 years old; he scanned pictures of himself with a Ford Model T. "We have many new families that use TFP but surprisingly to us over 28% of our customers are over 50 years old," said Sawtell.

Basically, TFP allows for the creation of rich media slide shows. Using the company's proprietary technology, known as QwikPost, users can easily upload hundreds of pictures in minutes. There is also VideoPost, which allows uploading and searching for any video file.

Other features include a family calendar, history pages, and blog/news pages. "We offer a multi-threaded message board that provides a safe environment for kids to communicate as well as ensuring a line of communication to family members all over the world," said Sawtell.

The business model? TFP charges a monthly subscription fee for its service (ranging from $5.35 to $13.45). And, so far, it hasn't been a barrier. This is further proof that Web 2.0 sites can make money.

Sawtell considered using an ad-based model. But he raises a good point: "We think that many families will not want that 'FREE PLASMA TV' banner flashing while showing a beautiful slide show of their newborn. So really at the end of the day the free sites are not really free at all. It all depends of how much you value the experience of presenting your precious family life."

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and operates InvestorOffering.com.

Last week, I was a moderator at a conference called TiECON SOUTHWEST 2006.

The topic was certainly interesting – "The New Internet: YouTube, MySpace and Beyond."

As is always key for a moderator, I was lucky to have a great panel. There was the money guy, that is, a venture capitalist from Softbank, Tarang Shah. The others included company founders, such as Gordon Gould from ThisNext, Eden Jarrin of Be Jane, Michael Sawtell of The Family Post and Erik Hawkins of PureVideo.

For the most part, it was a free-form discussion (there were also smart questions from the audience).

Here are some of my takeaways: