AlpineStefDec 28, 2022
Techmeme

Mastodon CEO Eugen Rochko says he rejected more than five US investors offering "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to preserve the platform's nonprofit status (Ian Johnston/Financial Times)

https://t.co/TXNmtIPV3O
http://www.techmeme.com/221228/p13#a221228p13

Twitter rival Mastodon rejects funding to protect non-profit status

News, analysis and comment from the Financial Times, the worldʼs leading global business publication

Financial Times
Dec 28, 2022 at 12:20pmWeb
Show threadPhilip KreißelDec 28, 2022
@Techmeme how dumb do you have to be as an investor to offer that much money for something that anyone can fork and use however they like? That lives from a community that despises any commercialization?
Show threadFabian ¯\_(ツ)_/¯Dec 28, 2022
@pkreissel @Techmeme Probably because they do not understand the concept of FOSS (licenses). All they know and see is a platform that becomes more popular, so they must buy it now to milk the profit. What profit you ask? Well THEY didnt ask that question themselves yet^^
Show threadMuradDec 28, 2022
@BafDyce @pkreissel I'm kind of looking forward to someone investing loads of money to build some fediverse service that just ends up as a defederated island because they made assumptions about how it all worked... 😬😁😁😁
Show threadSSFC KDT (MOVED)Dec 28, 2022
@pkreissel @Techmeme they would undoubtedly seek to end that
Show threadMike HuntingtonDec 28, 2022
@pkreissel @Techmeme sadly Microsoft & Google do it all the time. And they do it usually to kill off the service.
Show threadDiogo ConstantinoDec 28, 2022
@pkreissel unless you're an investor who also believes the same, which was likely not the case
@Techmeme
Show threadUlf J. FroitzheimDec 29, 2022
@Techmeme @pkreissel We‘re talking about a very small investment. To these people that‘s like us having dinner at a famous restaurant – without the wine. And that little bit if money wouldn’t even be lost. Obviously, they‘d find a greater fool.
(Did I mention that EM is the living proof of Greater Fool Theory?)
Show threadAndreas KDec 29, 2022

@pkreissel @Techmeme hundreds of thousands of dollars are, how to put it nicely, peanuts in the VC game.

Peanuts to buy off an irritating competitor, and make him stop competing?

Show threadComfortably NumbDec 28, 2022
@Techmeme Aww those nice investors, offering money to a non-profit out of goodness of their hearts.
Show threadgavinisdie Dec 28, 2022
@ygalanter @Techmeme very wholesome 
Show threadFionorDec 28, 2022
@Techmeme if they can't buy it, they'll try to label it as dangerous and criminal...
That's Capitalism 101
Show threadneoteotihuacanDec 28, 2022
@Techmeme Excellent. No notes.
Show threadIts GregoryDec 28, 2022
@Techmeme
Should have created an escrow account for a unforeseen rainy day
Show threadDr. D. Elisabeth GlasscoDec 28, 2022
@Techmeme This will continue. They have hundreds of millions to burn if even the potential for profit is there.
Show threadpdiff1Dec 28, 2022
@Techmeme Given the interest in Mastodon, “hundreds of thousands” seems pretty small.
Show threadClifton RoystonDec 28, 2022

@pdiff1 @Techmeme

Yeah, this. These are presumably some small-scale investors hoping to buy in cheap and hope to make a killing on something they don’t understand at all.

If bigger VC investors start coming in, it will probably look quite different. It would make sense for them to offer some no-strings donations for sw dev while simultaneously hiring developers for private scalability mods, depending on the license.

Show threadDavid HopewardDec 28, 2022
@Techmeme They were SO frustrated to have to deal with this coder guy and not #JohnMastodon himself! #reprise
Show threadSSFC KDT (MOVED)Dec 28, 2022

@Techmeme "Mastodon, an open-source microblogging site"

stopped reading. #journalists #technology #dontgetit

Show threadFuturistic Robert [KJ5ELX] Dec 28, 2022
@Techmeme oh they'll keep it nonprofit but then begin to forge it into what they want, web3, nft, crypto-bro paradise, etc. :D
Show threadAvi (אבי)  🪬Dec 28, 2022
@Techmeme thank you @Gargron
Show threadSalomonDec 28, 2022
@Techmeme be like Eugen, the hero we need. 👏🏻
Show threadBenj Soule🫂💙HumanityFirst🌅Dec 28, 2022
@Techmeme Elon and friends attempting to buy #Mastodon
Show threadBlank Dec 28, 2022
@Techmeme Go Eugene!!!! How proud I am of him, seriously #Joinin
Show threadHammancheezDec 28, 2022
@Techmeme also '100s of thouands of dollars' are you fucking kidding me "give up your life's work for 1 year of silicon valley coder salary' get fucked
Show threadZagTheRaccoon 🦝 (Essayist)Dec 28, 2022
@Techmeme
Show threadDoug Baker - Elbows Up!Dec 28, 2022
@Techmeme There’s a CEO? Who voted?
Show threadVincent Wanders AimlesslyDec 28, 2022
@Techmeme hells to the yeah
Show threadBobbingAlongDec 28, 2022
@Techmeme twatter has been non-profit-able for years. Given the political interest that social media generates within governments, I have a view that we can expect mastodon admins to need governance funding to keep things clean. The question of sustainable social funding options needs thought.
Show threadAxel HartmannDec 28, 2022
@Techmeme - lot of love to the one and only #JohnMastodon
Show threadTim JDec 28, 2022
@Techmeme The title suggests to me they don't even know what Mastodon is.
Show threadMarcusDec 28, 2022
@Techmeme I think it's a mistake or a misunderstanding to say preserve the platform. The project is maintained by German non-profit Mastodon gGmbH which is what Eugen runs.
Show threadCraig NewmarkDec 28, 2022
@Techmeme
Any updates re US 501c3? Thanks!
Show threadflourhappyDec 28, 2022

@Techmeme

Hava Negilla (We shall rejoice)
https://youtu.be/KTCmKmofaKA

Hava Nageela - Harry Belafonte.wmv

YouTube
Show threadjoshhuntDec 28, 2022
@Techmeme That all? Just 'hundreds of thousands'? Less than 1M? Yikes.
Show threadCarwil Bjork-JamesDec 28, 2022
@Techmeme Now seems like the moment for #Wikimedia / #Wikipedia alumni to decant some expertise to #Mastodon about how to institutionally ground a platform in permanent nonprofit, public benefit status.
Show threadThaiis Thei 𓁟Dec 28, 2022
@Carwil @Techmeme I'd like to suggest you research the wikimedia foundation a bit more. Do not recommend.
Show threadBob HarveyDec 28, 2022
@Techmeme
I hope he did reject "hundreds of thousands". We now know social networks are worth $44 billion.
Show threadDallas GrootDec 28, 2022
@Techmeme way to go @Gargron
Show threadSir Dr Rusty o the Isle 🖤💛❤️Dec 28, 2022
@Techmeme Good
Don't let the investor thugs anywhere near #Mastodon
Show threadAmanda ClarkDec 29, 2022
@Techmeme thats a person I want to support and follow.
Show threadLady AleenaDec 31, 2022
@Techmeme Is there a copy of the article that isn't behind a paywall?
Show threadex or current IDF unwelcomeFeb 18, 2023
@Techmeme In the UK Musk has blocked posts about a 60s band, The Kinks