One year after Forbes sold a significant minority stake to Elevation Partners, we opened the Future of Business Media Conference at the Waldorf=Astoria in NYC late last month discussing the issues that have confronted the website as it sought to differentiate itself from its print counterpart and the larger competitive landscape. The opening fireside chat format Q&A was with Jim Spanfeller, CEO of Forbes.com, and Roger McNamee, founding partner, Elevation Partners.

-- Spanfeller: The web is not media, it’s a platform. It allows the for the opportunity for having a bunch of different media organized together. The brand is both analogous to its offline title, but it’s also something apart. We are a separate different entity. People come to the site for different reasons than they do for the magazine.

-- McNamee: Talking about all the different redesigns, The magazine serves different needs than other business magazines do, we’re much much focused on investments than others. The audience needs something that has not been possible before. The web is a great place for bringing, not just the data, but the interpretation. Magazine is a light thing you can read on the toilet. But on the web, it’s way more dynamic, as a consequence, every week is a completely different business. The magazine has a slower evolution.

Lots more in the 25 minute video after the jump (RSS readers will have to click through):