@[email protected]Oct 17, 2023

It's funny: Both Bandcamp and Patreon had the easiest and most straightforwardly long-term profitable business models imaginable: Sit between indie creatives and their fans, provide some basic services for mediation (comment sections, media posts, semi-global payment) and take enough of a cut of any payments to cover the costs and then some.

But because that business model wouldn't scale forever, they are instead being gutted, because ever _increasing_ growth is the only model capital accepts

Show thread@[email protected]Oct 17, 2023

Incidentally, this also harkens to one of those times that Matt Levine Doesn't Understand Capitalism - he's been repeatedly stumped by why crypto firms like Coinbase or Tether keep making risky bets with customer money when they could just.. Not do that, and still make a handy profit from putting customer money into liquid rate-making bonds and live off the interested (since the customers see zilch of that).

>

Show thread@[email protected]Oct 17, 2023
I think the fundamenral misunderstanding is that Levine thinks of these crypto 'institutions' as classic capital - they get (more) money from owning things and managing funds, and should be fundamentally insulated from market instability - whereas the crypto people see themselves as a tech startup, meaning they should have YoY growth _every year_, which fixed-rate, liquid bonds can't necessarily yield.
Show threadArcadiaRhodOct 17, 2023

@pettter I was disappointed to see it sold a second time to a music licensing company. Don't know much about them but hope they aren't there to change the way it works.

But Bandcamp is/was a great model and service to bands.

Show thread@[email protected]Oct 17, 2023
@arcadiarhod They've immediately fired half the company, unfortunately.
Show threadArcadiaRhod

@pettter I read that today. But yeh as you mentioned perfect business. With a united workforce. But no one was thinking of the shareholders! Step one is always fire staff.

I just love the service and hope it can still serve it's purpose to the artists

Oct 17, 2023 at 9:04amWeb
Show threadAndrewOct 17, 2023
@arcadiarhod @pettter it's so weird that they ever *needed* shareholders though, right? I feel like you could get one of these apps off the ground without venture capital and having done so there's surely no reason you need to grow it faster than organically?
Show threadbovazOct 17, 2023
@andrewt @arcadiarhod @pettter some of it may be "the culture": you start an enterprise, so you feel you are expected to ask for investment to start up, but then that escalates as the initial investors want out with a profit.
Show threadNot a Spring OnionOct 21, 2023

@bovaz @andrewt @arcadiarhod @pettter

And some reaons might be simply things like loans, public grants, etc.

In most cases, you have to define a "scalable", "profit-oriented" business model to get funding.

A few months back, I tried to apply for a public grant to start a company that provides IT services to non-profit organizations.

The grant was about "social entrepreneurship" and had all the buzzwords ("inclusive", "social justice", etc.).

Main critique point in the feedback to my application: Not scalable "enough".