4 ms·

I am a creator who is using Patreon and I am so damn worried about the fact that 5% of the revenue they crow about processing every year apparently isn't enough

I am a creator who is using Patreon and I am so damn worried about the fact that 5% of the revenue they crow about processing every year apparently isn't enough. If there's anything that ought to be a "lifestyle business" it's Patreon.

jjeaff 8y ago
With a 5% cut, at their scale, they are likely paying less than 2.5% in processing fees. So they are claiming they can't make a profitable business on a higher cut than all of the other credit processing component companies combined. They have the potential to make way more than a lifestyle business at scale. The idea that they can't is either disingenuous (i.e. greedy) on their part or complete incompetence.
- egypturnash 8y ago
  That 5% was on top of the fees to the payment processor. When I went to Patrecon and asked Conte "so what happens if the VC decides it wants a return on its investment" and I think the tl;dr of his reply was "our VC is a bunch of wonderful supporters of the arts who are perfectly fine with not making big bucks off us". I felt like he was blowing sunshine up my ass then and I kinda feel like that even more now. I wonder what's going on with Kickstarter, Drip, and KS's handing Drip off to XOXO. I would be a lot more comfortable using a membership site that's run by a Public Benefit Corporation instead of a corporation that's got VC to pay back.
  - ysavir 8y ago
    I'm currently working on a similar idea to what you just described. It's still a work in progress, but with no investors and no shareholders, so no pressure to maximize profits. I'd love to get your input as a creator and hear your thoughts. If interested, send me an email at yaniv@mynexus.io.
    - egypturnash 8y ago
      Will do.
  - rmc 8y ago
    Another idea: A co-op company where the owners are the people who recieve money. This is the "platform co-op" idea.
    - Kalium 8y ago
      Co-ops are always and invariably a good idea, wonderful and pleasing to discuss. Getting such a co-op into a position to actually be preferable to everyone involved might sometimes, in some cases and scenarions, work out to be less pleasing and wonderful.
marcinzm 8y ago
>If there's anything that ought to be a "lifestyle business" it's Patreon. The question is, would Patreon have succeeded had they not taken in $2 million in seed funding or would they have been beaten by someone who did? Since the second they took seed funding they were no longer on the path of a lifestyle business.

jjeaff 8y ago

With a 5% cut, at their scale, they are likely paying less than 2.5% in processing fees. So they are claiming they can't make a profitable business on a higher cut than all of the other credit processing component companies combined. They have the potential to make way more than a lifestyle business at scale. The idea that they can't is either disingenuous (i.e. greedy) on their part or complete incompetence.

egypturnash 8y ago
That 5% was on top of the fees to the payment processor. When I went to Patrecon and asked Conte "so what happens if the VC decides it wants a return on its investment" and I think the tl;dr of his reply was "our VC is a bunch of wonderful supporters of the arts who are perfectly fine with not making big bucks off us". I felt like he was blowing sunshine up my ass then and I kinda feel like that even more now. I wonder what's going on with Kickstarter, Drip, and KS's handing Drip off to XOXO. I would be a lot more comfortable using a membership site that's run by a Public Benefit Corporation instead of a corporation that's got VC to pay back.
- ysavir 8y ago
  I'm currently working on a similar idea to what you just described. It's still a work in progress, but with no investors and no shareholders, so no pressure to maximize profits. I'd love to get your input as a creator and hear your thoughts. If interested, send me an email at yaniv@mynexus.io.
  - egypturnash 8y ago
    Will do.
- rmc 8y ago
  Another idea: A co-op company where the owners are the people who recieve money. This is the "platform co-op" idea.
  - Kalium 8y ago
    Co-ops are always and invariably a good idea, wonderful and pleasing to discuss. Getting such a co-op into a position to actually be preferable to everyone involved might sometimes, in some cases and scenarions, work out to be less pleasing and wonderful.

marcinzm 8y ago

>If there's anything that ought to be a "lifestyle business" it's Patreon. The question is, would Patreon have succeeded had they not taken in $2 million in seed funding or would they have been beaten by someone who did? Since the second they took seed funding they were no longer on the path of a lifestyle business.