Prior work has identified, in piecemeal fashion, desirable characteristics of Virtual Community businesses (VCBs) such as inimitable information assets, persistent handles fomenting trust, and an economic infrastructure. The present work develops a framework for the success of a subscription-based VCB by taking into account the above elements and considering as well an interplay of the membership (both regular members and volunteers), technical features of the interface, and an evolutionary business model that supports member subgroups as they form.

Our framework is applied by an in-depth survey of use and attitude of regular members and volunteers in the Internet Chess Club (ICC), a popular subscription-based VCB.. The survey results reveal that key features of the model are supported in the ICC case: member subgroups follow customized communication pathways; a corps of volunteers is supported and recognized, and the custom interface presents clear navigation pathways to the ICC?s key large-scale information asset, a multi-million game database contributed by real-world chess Grandmasters who enjoy complimentary ICC membership.

We conclude by discussing VCBs in general and how the framework might apply to other domains.