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by seanieb·7y ago·view on hn ↗
This comment is classic internet drama.. Is it too much to ask for that people back up their statements with facts?

- "They are already a monopoly" False. Youtube is pretty big. And there are more.

- absurd "revenue cuts" - break down the costs. The human cost of doing email support and in some cases phone support. Legal, trust and safety, legal, etc. Now add the product development costs of a web service service in San Francisco. And finally add the % for the credit card processors, which isn't small.

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>- absurd "revenue cuts" - break down the costs. The human cost of doing email support and in some cases phone support. Legal, trust and safety, legal, etc. Now add the product development costs of a web service service in San Francisco. And finally add the % for the credit card processors, which isn't small.

For 2019 they're projecting 25 million in revenue in addition to their 5% transaction fee. I have no idea how they can't build a business out of that.

I think the GP has it right. Patreon can easily be a 100-200 million dollar kind of company with steady 10% returns. Since they've raised money at a big valuation that's not good enough. They have to be a billion dollar company for the VCs to get the return they want.

>> Legal, trust and safety, legal, etc.

Why did you list legal twice? Sounds like a way to save money right there. Anyways, the point is that the service is very minimal given the money raised and there's no reason they had to build this in San Francisco.

It's definitely a classic case of something that could be wildly profitable but now will never be sustainable because of taking on too much VC.

How is Youtube a Patreon replacement? There's so much more on Patreon than just video creators and I don't think Youtube even supports recurring donations of arbitrary values.
Also, everyone I subscribe to on YouTube who is doing it as their full time gig is supporting themselves... on Patreon.
How is Youtube a Patreon replacement?

YouTube has their own Patreon-like payment system, but only for YouTube and built into their app.