4 ms·
I wonder how 4chan factors into a VC's perception of moot.
by ericz 16y ago
I wonder how 4chan factors into a VC's perception of moot.
- joshu 16y agoIt ought to show that he's got a great sense of how to build and run a community. (I am an investor)
- sachinag 16y agoI would love to hear how you were introduced to this opportunity and what was exciting and what were your concerns as you considered it.
- joshu 16y agoI suggested him as a speaker to TED. Later I introduced myself at the conference. Introduced him to some other folks and the ball started rolling.
- robryan 16y agoI would think army of loyal followers would factor into it. If this guy makes something the people will come. Whether you can monetise this traffic though is another question.
- _delirium 16y agoNot sure how well 4chan users monetize, but if he ends up producing anything halfway interesting to the general public, I think just being "the 4chan guy" will get him enough mainstream press/visitors to do well. Even outside the tech press--- I could imagine CNN running a human-interest story on, "guy whose website led to those weird kids in masks protesting Scientology, now has business doing [whatever]".
- code_duck 16y agoThere's no question that the fact that he created a site that ranks in the top 1000 on Alexa, before he was even 20, would positively factor into any investor's perception of moot and his business prospects. We wouldn't be hearing about him if not for 4chan, of course.
- lenley 16y agoCertainly, but I think the mix of content and lack of censorship also helps get a significant amount of traffic.
- code_duck 16y agoNo doubt, it's unsavory. There is censorship to a certain extent, though - clearly illegal content does get deleted, and people get banned all the time. I'd have to say, though, it's a unique community and when things are going well, and you understand the millions of in-jokes, it can be hilarious. People on Reddit joke about how Digg is the front page of Reddit two days ago, but the joke memes on Reddit increasingly are what was funny on 4chan last week.
- InclinedPlane 16y agoI think 4chan is probably a positive factor in regards to moot's perception by VC's. Considering that moot managed to build a well-known, high-traffic website before he was 20 is significant. The fact that it is sometimes controversial and has had run ins with the church of scientology and yet survived relatively unscathed is also somewhat in his favor, I think. Investors want to know whether you'll be committed to your vision, even through the hardships. Dealing with competitors who want nothing other than to see their success and your failure is probably a hell of a lot easier than dealing with scientology lawyers and fanatics trying to bring you down in any way possible.
- jakarta 16y agoHe has a pretty proven track record with building/fostering a massive online community (and not an ordinary one at that). So I think he'd be a jockey worth betting on.
- hugh3 16y agoTo me he smells more like a guy around whom a community just happened to form.
- crocowhile 16y agoWell, the idea was to build a community about anime and /b/ hit the fan so you are right. At the same time, he had the vision to keep things running and let /b/ develop, something that very very few people would have done.