Foursquare is fast-approaching 1.6 million members and has just released CNN World Cup badges.

These interesting tidbits were revealed today when Foursquare Co-founder Dennis Crowley took the stage at the Mashable Media Summit to field questions from our Editor-in-Chief, Adam Ostrow.

The question-and-answer interview spanned a variety of topics including revenue potential, growth and future plans for the service.

We've embedded the entire interview below and have also extracted some of the key points and big reveals.

Badge Rewards

Perhaps the biggest news — apart from the impressive growth metrics — is that Foursquare is addressing badge fatigue by experimenting with adding value to badges — which Crowley describes as "digital candy."

Crowley used Internet Week as an example, stating that users who check-in at an Internet Week venue will unlock a special badge. That badge — when presented to bouncers — will guarantee users priority entrance into some Internet Week parties and events.

Foursquare already makes it possible for businesses to offer specials around mayorships or checkins, but the badge rewards system could be the equivalent to a modern day VIP program. The company is still testing the concept, but there's obviously huge potential here.

CNN World Cup Badges







CNN and Foursquare have joined forces to release two CNN World Cup badges: South Africa Explorer and Super Fan.

Foursquare users who follow CNN can only unlock the South Africa Exloper badge by actually venturing to South Africa to attend the World Cup. The rest of us, however, can grab the Super Fan badge by checking in to World Cup viewing parties and soccer-friendly pubs. Some of the more than 100 badge-eligible venues will also be seeded with tips from CNN staffers.

Revenue Potential and the Future

As discussed above, Crowley mentioned that Foursquare is closing in on 1.6 million users. While Crowley appears genuinely surprised by user adoption, the rapid rise in members and checkin acceleration over the past year, he also doesn't believe growth will slow anytime soon.

The future for Foursquare will be defined by adding more value to service, which Crowley says will happen through more partnerships and more sophisticated features. The hope is that the company can engineer ways to encourage interactions between users who are checked-in to the same venue.

In terms of revenue, Crowley says that company is generating money and that it's helped to offset expansion costs. He also sees a myriad of monetization opportunities, but did make it a point to state that they are not profitable, and that profitability is not something Foursquare is focused on right now.

To that end, we expect the startup to reveal funding news in the near future, especially given that Crowley insinuated as much during the interview.

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