7 ms·

Why are they running a Kickstarter if they actually have a "PRO" business model thing going? Shouldn't they just focus on building their business, instead of ra

Why are they running a Kickstarter if they actually have a "PRO" business model thing going? Shouldn't they just focus on building their business, instead of raising money? The video is cool-hip-quirky but... I don't get why they need to stick out their hands and ask for a handout here.

jweir 10y ago
I reckon this is pure promotion. That video was pretty slick and I doubt it cost less than $30,000 to produce – writer, camera crew, actors, director, lighting, bakers, etc.
- fortawesome 10y ago
  It was less.
TheBiv 10y ago
It appears that they are doing it for 2 reasons: 1. Using Kickstarter as a way to give PRO users a discount on their normal $40 rate. 2. Using Kickstarter as a way to market/announce their new business model. If that's indeed why they are doing this as a Kickstarter then its a pretty great way to use Kickstarter, imho!
- williamle8300 10y ago
  If it was just for marketing, then they should do marketing not fundraising.
  - TheBiv 10y ago
    Marketing a discount through Kickstarter is brilliant!
  - mikeleeorg 10y ago
    Though you may not agree with it, a lot of people use crowd funding as a mixture of fundraising, marketing, and market validation. I'm not sure exactly which mix of benefits FA has in mind, but personally, I don't mind it. And currently, they've gotten well over double their original goal - which is huge validation that the market likes what they are doing.
harrisreynolds 10y ago
They give away tons of free stuff. They've earned the right to ask for some $$$.
- pyre 10y ago
  I think the point was that they are asking for $$$ by having a "Free vs. Pro" business model (i.e. people pay $$$ for Pro), so where does the need for a Kickstarter campaign come from?
  - sametmax 10y ago
    Because to have the free stuff, you need to dev it. To dev it, you need money to eat while you dev. So they ask money to live now, while they can code the free stuff.
    - williamle8300 10y ago
      Maybe they should treat it as a side project, and not as a job. When people treat open source projects as their day job everybody loses.
      - beardicus 10y ago
        > When people treat open source projects as their day job everybody loses. That's a new one. How does someone getting making a living while developing open source software mean "everybody loses"?
        sametmax 10y ago
        Yeah I don't feel like I lose because of Torvald, Stallman and van Rossum...
        williamle8300 10y ago
        They have a "foundation" supporting their products. Before the foundation was conceived, it was started as a side project with no strings attached.
zapt02 10y ago
They totally lost me when the video announced a PRO version. Sorry, you can't claim to be open source while a few seconds later showing a paid-for version. Shame.
- thunderbong 10y ago
  Open source doesn't necessarily mean free
- iLoch 10y ago
  There are actually tons of companies that do this, and it's a great business model that works well for everybody.
- williamle8300 10y ago
  Exactly. It's really having your cake and eating it too. They need to choose between: 1) If you're gonna raise money, then release all your work for free. No "premium" icons. 2) If you're gonna have a freemium-premium model, then don't have a fundraiser and get others to underwrite your risks.
- karlshea 10y ago
  Oh no! They lost your $0.00!
whitecat 10y ago
This "pro" version is different than the one they offer on their site. Pro Font Awesome VS Pro Fort Awesome. Fort Awesome already includes many of the features in Font Awesome 5.
duck 10y ago
As I write this I see 92,108 reasons why they did this, plus a lot of us talking about it. It simply works for some projects and they took the chance that it would work for theirs, and if it didn't, it would of just cost them some time and whatever that video cost them.
oliwarner 10y ago
Because —like many Kickstarters— they want paying for their time before they do the work. I'm sure they don't need to do that but if you've already got the following to allow it, why not take the opportunity to ramp up the buzz? It also puts some focus on the much-ignored professional versions. Most people have been happy to use the free versions. This draws attention to the fact that designing things takes time and that is worth something.

jweir 10y ago

I reckon this is pure promotion. That video was pretty slick and I doubt it cost less than $30,000 to produce – writer, camera crew, actors, director, lighting, bakers, etc.

fortawesome 10y ago
It was less.

TheBiv 10y ago

It appears that they are doing it for 2 reasons: 1. Using Kickstarter as a way to give PRO users a discount on their normal $40 rate. 2. Using Kickstarter as a way to market/announce their new business model. If that's indeed why they are doing this as a Kickstarter then its a pretty great way to use Kickstarter, imho!

williamle8300 10y ago
If it was just for marketing, then they should do marketing not fundraising.
- TheBiv 10y ago
  Marketing a discount through Kickstarter is brilliant!
- mikeleeorg 10y ago
  Though you may not agree with it, a lot of people use crowd funding as a mixture of fundraising, marketing, and market validation. I'm not sure exactly which mix of benefits FA has in mind, but personally, I don't mind it. And currently, they've gotten well over double their original goal - which is huge validation that the market likes what they are doing.

harrisreynolds 10y ago

They give away tons of free stuff. They've earned the right to ask for some $$$.

pyre 10y ago
I think the point was that they are asking for $$$ by having a "Free vs. Pro" business model (i.e. people pay $$$ for Pro), so where does the need for a Kickstarter campaign come from?
- sametmax 10y ago
  Because to have the free stuff, you need to dev it. To dev it, you need money to eat while you dev. So they ask money to live now, while they can code the free stuff.
  - williamle8300 10y ago
    Maybe they should treat it as a side project, and not as a job. When people treat open source projects as their day job everybody loses.
    - beardicus 10y ago
      > When people treat open source projects as their day job everybody loses. That's a new one. How does someone getting making a living while developing open source software mean "everybody loses"?
      - sametmax 10y ago
        Yeah I don't feel like I lose because of Torvald, Stallman and van Rossum...
        williamle8300 10y ago
        They have a "foundation" supporting their products. Before the foundation was conceived, it was started as a side project with no strings attached.

zapt02 10y ago

They totally lost me when the video announced a PRO version. Sorry, you can't claim to be open source while a few seconds later showing a paid-for version. Shame.

thunderbong 10y ago
Open source doesn't necessarily mean free
iLoch 10y ago
There are actually tons of companies that do this, and it's a great business model that works well for everybody.
williamle8300 10y ago
Exactly. It's really having your cake and eating it too. They need to choose between: 1) If you're gonna raise money, then release all your work for free. No "premium" icons. 2) If you're gonna have a freemium-premium model, then don't have a fundraiser and get others to underwrite your risks.
karlshea 10y ago
Oh no! They lost your $0.00!

whitecat 10y ago

This "pro" version is different than the one they offer on their site. Pro Font Awesome VS Pro Fort Awesome. Fort Awesome already includes many of the features in Font Awesome 5.

duck 10y ago

As I write this I see 92,108 reasons why they did this, plus a lot of us talking about it. It simply works for some projects and they took the chance that it would work for theirs, and if it didn't, it would of just cost them some time and whatever that video cost them.

oliwarner 10y ago

Because —like many Kickstarters— they want paying for their time before they do the work. I'm sure they don't need to do that but if you've already got the following to allow it, why not take the opportunity to ramp up the buzz? It also puts some focus on the much-ignored professional versions. Most people have been happy to use the free versions. This draws attention to the fact that designing things takes time and that is worth something.