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I just have no idea how this would work? I'm starting a golf wiki: https://golfcourse.wiki https://golfcourse.wiki , and i really am thinking about taking in a

by scoofy 4y ago

I just have no idea how this would work? I'm starting a golf wiki: https://golfcourse.wiki https://golfcourse.wiki , and i really am thinking about taking in a not for profit direction. I just... I don't have any money, and if I ever made any money instead of losing money on it (currently), I could never imagine making enough to actually pay employees. Patreon works because they marketed the hell out of themselves. That costs a ton, and it almost certainly was funded by VC capital. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't operate at large losses for years. I guess, as someone trying to build a startup from nothing, bootstrapping is just hard. Lord knows I'm very proud of the growth I've had, but I'm still almost certain that nothing will come of the nearly 3 years I've worked on this site. Unless you're willing to potentially bankrupt yourself to build a nonprofit, or fight on alone incredibly slowly, I really think that nearly every startup with seed funding will absolutely have to sell out big time.

throwaway290 4y ago
How did Patreon advertise that it cost a ton? Where there many ads or commercials, online and offline?
- ryanbrunner 4y ago
  Marketing for SaaS is rarely in traditional media, and isn't limited to paid ads. Everything on a non-app website is marketing. Obtaining case studies, references, trade shows are all under the umbrella of marketing. Even stuff like exclusivity contracts can be "marketing" in a sense - it may not land that way on a finance budget (genuinely don't know how that stuff is classified), but a lot of big creators are incentivized to join platforms outside of just choosing what works best for them. Disclaimer: I work for a Patreon competitor (Supercast) and I'm not saying any or all of the above is definitely something Patreon does, it's just things that are typical in the industry.
t-writescode 4y ago
I'm not a lawyer, but I imagine: It really does probably start with the kindness of the initial benefactor - or as an in-house job until such time as the "profits" exceeded the founder's "wages" and then they could hire more people and have a reserve of X years of current employees' wages to handle the ups and downs. It would likely need to start from someone that either has a primary job, or is independently wealthy, though, and then that person would need to remain at the company because AFAIK (I'm not a lawyer), you cannot pay a "board" at a non-profit.

by scoofy 4y ago

throwaway290 4y ago

How did Patreon advertise that it cost a ton? Where there many ads or commercials, online and offline?

ryanbrunner 4y ago
Marketing for SaaS is rarely in traditional media, and isn't limited to paid ads. Everything on a non-app website is marketing. Obtaining case studies, references, trade shows are all under the umbrella of marketing. Even stuff like exclusivity contracts can be "marketing" in a sense - it may not land that way on a finance budget (genuinely don't know how that stuff is classified), but a lot of big creators are incentivized to join platforms outside of just choosing what works best for them. Disclaimer: I work for a Patreon competitor (Supercast) and I'm not saying any or all of the above is definitely something Patreon does, it's just things that are typical in the industry.

t-writescode 4y ago

I'm not a lawyer, but I imagine: It really does probably start with the kindness of the initial benefactor - or as an in-house job until such time as the "profits" exceeded the founder's "wages" and then they could hire more people and have a reserve of X years of current employees' wages to handle the ups and downs. It would likely need to start from someone that either has a primary job, or is independently wealthy, though, and then that person would need to remain at the company because AFAIK (I'm not a lawyer), you cannot pay a "board" at a non-profit.