Michael SchwingesApr 10
Pedro Piñera

Not quite the same, but I’ve been observing other businesses in @tuist space and their models, and the way they are run gave me this sad feeling of the people behind them not really caring about the problem space. It’s purely about maximising value extraction as any cost to approach an exit or going public.

And this lack of care percolates to the extreme where they even publish case studies of customers they don’t have.

https://www.joanwestenberg.com/the-passive-income-trap-ate-a-generation-of-entrepreneurs/

The "Passive Income" trap ate a generation of entrepreneurs

I had coffee last year with a guy - I won't use his real name - who told me he was "building a business." I asked what it did. Dropshipping jade face rollers. I made him say it twice. Jade face rollers. He'd found them on Alibaba for $1.20

Westenberg.
Apr 10 at 5:35amWeb
Show threadobrhoffApr 10

@pedro It’s unfortunate, also a big thing in the indie space too.

The space got taken over by people that only talk about MRR, paywalls and SEO. I often don’t even know what their product is.

Show threadPedro PiñeraApr 10
@obrhoff I had no idea it was a thing in the indie aoace too. To be honest, I never understood so much hype around paywall design. It always felt to me like trying to figure out how to “hack” the person into paying. Shouldn’t that be the response to a great product that the person loves?
Show threadobrhoffApr 10

@pedro I really don’t know.

Sometimes I think I'm too naive to believe that it only takes a good product to succeed.

But yeah, it became often an eye-ball game to grab the attention and show a paywall as much as possible in the hope the user falls for the $4.99 per week subscription.

Show threadIvan MirApr 10

@obrhoff @pedro I feel like it's not just big but it's the whole indie space nowadays. Mastodon indies are in a pocket dimension compared to the outside world where RevenueCat hyperoptimization drives everything.

Hopefully, users will eventually develop herd immunity to the 50-slide paywall loss-aversion-based trickery.

Show threadobrhoffApr 10

@ivmirx @pedro
I think it’s even bigger than that (like the article).

I believe in the 20 years a massive cultural shift happened where the goal is to extract as much profit as possible, whatever it takes. Bitcoin, Trump, Tech Bros etc. All feel related to the same idea.

Maybe it’s social media that brainwashed us all (just open LinkedIn) or something else. I don’t know, but it’s enough to burn down this planet for some digits on your bank account.

Show threadLucas ✦Apr 10

Thank you for caring, @pedro.

It shows.