Twitter co-founder Biz Stone and his partners are some cool cats. Facebook tried to buy the company for half a billion and they turned it down. The fledgling social networking service also staved off Google from gobbling it up.

The company has a rapidly expanding staff, expected to double its 40-strong by the end of the year and isn’t profitable, Reuters reports.

Yet Stone is looking for revenue streams other than ads, which he figures would do more harm than good to Twitter.

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said on Monday that the company is developing various add-on tools and services for the businesses and professional users of Twitter, which could create a revenue stream for the company. He said Twitter plans to introduce some of these tools by year end.

But Stone dismissed the notion of selling advertisements on the popular service at this time, even though ad revenue is the main way most Web start-ups manage to stay in business while keeping their service free for consumers.

“There are a few reasons why we’re not pursuing advertising — one is it’s just not quite as interesting to us,” Stone told the Reuters Global Technology Summit in New York via videolink from San Francisco.

Stone said serving up ads alongside Twitter messages could also annoy users. And he said Twitter doesn’t have, and isn’t seeking to hire, the staff to create an advertising-based business.

Stone’s preternaturally cool stance is reminiscent of Braveheart’s in the movie Braveheart. You know, when he and his troops are all lined up, spears in hand, waiting for the cavalry to trample them. “Hold!” Braveheart shouts as they get closer. “Hoooooold!” he screams even louder as they draw even nearer. “HOOOOOOLD!” Braveheart screams with every bit of braveness of his heart as the enemy nears to within a half inch of his army before finally giving them the go-ahead to whip some British ass. Time will tell if Stone and company have a Braveheart-style plan to make money without selling out.

Failing that, there’s always harpooning the everpresent fail whale for his ample supply of lantern oil.

Twitter sees tools, not ads, for revenue [Reuters]
(Photo:Great Beyond)

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