… Perhaps the best way to understand Mozilla is in the words of their president on their new VC arm:

“We see a lot of startups who want to tackle things like privacy, trustworthy AI, and alternatives to Twitter… alternatives are not going to emerge unless there’s founders and companies who build them. And the founders are not going to build them unless there’s money aligned with their vision … So I think we need to still be about commerce and creating wealth”

https://www.yahoo.com/video/mozilla-foundation-mark-surman-rethinking-120004066.html

2/3

… Or, in what a previous head of public policy at Mozilla told me while we were chatting before our talks at a data protection conference:

“Aral, we’re just another Silicon Valley tech company, I don’t understand why you’re holding us to a such a higher standard.”

When I finally managed to pick my jaw off the floor the only retort I could manage was: “But that’s not what you tell people.”

3/3

#Mozilla #fediverse #SiliconValley #ventureCapital #BigTech

@aral by current standards, I think Vivaldi does a bit better than this in terms of straight talking, easy to understand and transparency:-
https://vivaldi.com/blog/vivaldi-business-model/

But, yes, it would be great if there was a business model that didn't involve any sort of grubby deals, but such is the reality of digital business these days.

Even with Mastodon a crunch point will come where tough decisions need to be made about how to sustainably fund development. Currently, it is partly bankrolled by the EU.

@nitbuntu @aral That's simply not the case. Most non-profits in software maintain better relationships with the public than Mozilla.

In the case of Mastodon, the EU is forking over tons of money, and we have massive buy-in now. Yet we also have legendary funding passing through Patreon. The money will not be the limiting factor on Mastodon's growth, political willpower will be.

@hypervisor_enjoyer @aral it can seem that way now, but as things ramp up, costs increase.

Until recently Twitter had 5000 employees!
Even if Mastodon only ever requires 5% of that, that’s still 250 people and Berlin office space.

Soon you’d want to know how this is funded long term, if the EU can continue bankrolling this, fine.

But what if, like their CAP farm subsidies, EU tax payers start finding it a waste of money? Why bankroll an app used by ‘liberal elites’ when you can fund schools.