4 ms·

I wonder at what ROI do we consider an investment something more like philanthropy and at what ROI it is more like capitalism?

• sanderjd 8y ago
  Philanthropy is great when it's done by independently wealthy people. If that's who the author of this project is, then that's great and I've misjudged this. But that's not usually the case. The majority of mildly useful little unmonetized projects are not made by independently wealthy folks, they are made by (usually younger) folks who are optimistic and whose expenses and responsibilities have not yet accumulated. I don't mean to be a debbie downer - fun little projects are great - I'm just saying that I don't associate something unmonetized with "great! this is altruistic!", I associate it with "bummer, this will probably not be sustained", and when I come across something with a natural and well-aligned monetization scheme, I feel positively about it and am more likely to use it.