Financial Model
Sustainable economics without advertising or data exploitation.
The Problem with “Free”
When a product is free, you’re the product. Advertising-based business models create inevitable pressure to maximize engagement, harvest data, and manipulate user behavior. There’s no way around this—it’s structural.
Our Revenue Model
We take a different approach: members pay a fair price for a service that actually serves them.
Membership Fees
The primary revenue source is membership fees. We’re designing a tiered structure:
- Basic tier: Affordable access to core features
- Standard tier: Full features at a sustainable price
- Supporter tier: For those who want to contribute more
Exact pricing will be determined through member input, but our target is accessibility—this should be affordable for most people, with subsidized access for those who need it.
No Advertising
We will not sell advertising. Period. This is a foundational commitment, not a temporary policy.
No Data Sales
We will not sell user data or provide surveillance-based targeting to third parties. Your data is yours.
Cost Structure
Where does the money go?
Infrastructure
Servers, bandwidth, storage—the technical foundation of the platform. We’ll use efficient, European-hosted infrastructure.
People
Engineers, designers, moderators, community managers—the humans who build and maintain the platform. Fair wages, good working conditions.
Operations
Legal, accounting, governance support—the overhead required to run a legitimate organization.
Reserves
Building reserves for sustainability, ensuring we can weather difficult periods without compromising our values.
Startup Funding
Before we have enough members to be self-sustaining, we need startup capital. We’re pursuing:
- Founding member contributions: Early members who believe in the vision
- Grants: European and national programs supporting digital sovereignty and cooperative development
- Social impact investment: Investors seeking social returns, not just financial ones
Notably absent: venture capital seeking 10x returns. That model is incompatible with our goals.
Sustainability, Not Growth At All Costs
We’re not trying to become a unicorn. We’re trying to build sustainable infrastructure that serves its members indefinitely. That means growing at a pace we can manage, maintaining quality over quantity, and prioritizing long-term stability over short-term metrics.