Edit:
I'm simply blown away with you goats. I was expecting a somber farewell in this thread but instead you've done the exact opposite; pulled off a rally at the bottom of the 9th. On a personal note, and this may seem sentimental, but you have given me a new hope for Voat at very dark time for me.
All I can say now is: Let's do this! I think your message is clear. We have a ton of work to do, a short window in which to do it, and I fully understand I can't do it alone. We will need all hands on deck if Voat is to have any chance at survival.
I will post the plans I have for Voat as well as a status update on your contributions by Monday.
P.S. Old goats, be nice to the new kids. ;)
Original Post
As I sit here about to write one of the most difficult announcements yet, I was just reminded that my account is one month shy of three years old. Nearly three years ago I came here from Reddit when the vote counts disappeared and I felt I could no longer trust what I saw. Nearly three years ago I met @Atko and started contributing code because I believed in him, his mission, and what he was doing. So much has happened during these last three years.
I know a lot of you are new, but Voat has been through a wild ride, and never at any point was it an easy one. My memories are bittersweet when it comes to Voat. I’ve sacrificed the best years of my life for Voat, I’ve lost my business partner whom I miss a lot, I’ve lost people in my life, I’ve given up golf which was my passion, and even with all this I still believe in Voat. I still see the dire need for Free Speech in this world, I fear a world without it, and I still will do anything I can to continue providing it.
But alas, I am powerless to keep Voat running without financial support. As of right now Voat has no solid commitments. Voat has always needed a financial partner whom had balls of steel and backing deep enough to give Voat the capabilities to run as an actual business (being able to hire staff and set itself apart from its competitors), not just a one man show. Potential investors have one or the other of these traits, but we have yet to find one with both. In this day and age, this is Voat’s unicorn.
In the past Voat has been lucky enough to be part of special programs designed for startup companies which gave us free licensing on various products and significantly reduced hosting costs. These programs have since expired and we are now paying full costs. Last month was our first non-discounted month on Azure and the usage was $6,600.90 USD. Donations, ads, and merchandise only put a dent in this and this is the primary reason why we have not launched another merchandise run. And begging for donations was always something we hated doing.
I’m writing this announcement to prepare this community, and the Voat family, for the possibility of a closure. I’m not certain on timing and I have too much invested in this place to give up just yet, so I cannot provide any timelines. In the meantime, I will soon be scaling back all Voat’s servers by at least 50%. I will also turn off some features that are resource intensive.
Voat needs funding. Without it, Voat will be no more.
Voat needs an Angel
Canary
https://voat.co/v/announcements/1330806
view the rest of the comments →
middle_path ago
Could you reach out to very free speech celebrities? Joe Rogan, hell.... Donald Trump? Surely some celebrity or millionaire would love to invest in a free speech platform.
Magaman ago
Try Robert Mercer
SeptemberVirgin ago
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
He should be more worried about not going to prison or being executed for treason right now.
Don't you people watch the news?
middle_path ago
Please tell me what he did that was treasonous.
SeptemberVirgin ago
Leaking highly classified information to the enemy for one. Being elected by working on collusion with them to undermine his rival.
Trump will be impeached and found guilty. I hope they give him the death penalty.
middle_path ago
Jesus, kid. Where do you think you are?
1WinfieldBlue ago
I would second giving Rogan a go.
HashTagFU ago
Joe Rogan makes money on his podcast. I doubt he's going to give money to keep voat alive. I think somebody got to Joe just based on the guests he has on. Half of them are shilling books or whatnot.
middle_path ago
God forbid people sell books! A lot of his guests are pretty fringe.
HashTagFU ago
You can't act like your show is organic and just friends and interesting people talking when you shill for someone with a new book, work out regimen, whatever. There are far too many really interesting podcasts that aren't trying to sell me shit.
That said, he's free to do whatever he wants, as am I. Fringe or not, if they're trying to sell me their garbage I turn it off. When someone like Jordan Peterson is on, I listen. The. days of captive audiences are over.
middle_path ago
And as we are discovering with voat, there's no such thing as free lunch. Joe has sponsors, that's how he's kept the thing running. Sometimes he shills them, sometimes he doesn't. I don't care because the content of the podcasts keeps it interesting.
HashTagFU ago
Joe is already wealthy. He doesn't need income from his podcast to live. I don't begrudge him making bank on his podcast but I won't listen when he's shilling for some new book by a also ran author.
So you consider every podcast to be as interesting as every other? You're in luck : my grass is growing. You're welcome to entertain yourself by watching it happen.
middle_path ago
STOP LIKING WHAT I DON'T LIKE!!!! REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
HashTagFU ago
REEEEEEEE I like everything and you don't. I'M AN AUTIST!!! I CAN"T DEAL WITH CONFLICT!!!!
See how easy that is middle_path? You're handle belies your attitude, lol.
placoid ago
Milo has a media company.
suramartian ago
That's the last thing we need, he'll push the racemixing/gay agenda all over the site.
Mr_Dusk ago
free speech motherfucker. There is no agenda. We're all upset at the censorship to not offend delicate special little snowflakes. It is what Voat's for afterall.
maaaaa ago
Nope.
Stavon ago
Being financially dependent on a celebrity is the opposite of free speech.
middle_path ago
Well, no it's not if they support free speech. And if we don't get money, we perish and there is no platform.
Stavon ago
They why do you mention a politician in power. One who said he wanted to limit freedom of press.
A platform dependent on a government is a propaganda outlet not a free speech platform.
middle_path ago
The donation could come from Trump's businesses and not the government.
I'm just brainstorming, all you're doing is bitching. What's your solution?
Stavon ago
The effect would be the same.
I admit I haven't come up with a good one yet. Shill accounts which can vote without CCP? It seems Voat has reach the hard point where it's go or fall; most fall, some quicker, some try to fight it, but there needs to be cash and integrity through some way. And with the current content of Voat, I don't think many VCs are interested.
cynicaloldfart ago
Slippery slope - "There's no such thing as a free lunch".
guinness2 ago
My cat disagrees: always has a full belly and still hates me.
WisDumb ago
I can relate !!!
suramartian ago
The whole "get a celebrity to fund it!" idea is dangerous as fuck. You're selling the speech parameters off to the highest bidder, you'll end up with a kosher site that's only slightly to the right of reddit.
middle_path ago
Then voat finds a way to generate revenue. I really wouldn't care if free speech was supported.
Datawych ago
It wouldn't be the first time Trump fucking hooked someone with financial problems up.
MRSMSMomma ago
Tap Don Jr or Eric. Tag them shamelessly.
nigger_plz ago
I'm sure the MSM is already working up their next story line. "Trump buys nigger hating company."
PuttItOut ago
Honestly this is my next plan of action. The Hail Mary.
ReactTM ago
Why don't you guys make a funding page with a progress bar for the amount of money you need every month? Leave a link to it in the footer and a little mini bar.
edblings ago
if not implement a 'voat goald' type deal, you should at the very least implement the financial goal bar in the donations page so people can see how close we are getting, which might sway people that normally wouldn't donate, since they would see the real effort
guinness2 ago
Alex Jones at InfoWars.com
Hipsterrr ago
try it man. that sort of thing might actually help voat
HuginnOgMuninn ago
Kim Dotcom...
Linux advice/help, hosting/hosting advice, powerful ally/angel/coder.
KIM DOTCOM...... START A TWITTER BLITZ
sakuramboo ago
Milo just got 12 million to start his media company.
psymin ago
Did he really get the 12 million? There is a theory that it is all smoke.
ShineShooter ago
But that's degenerate!
optionalfrank ago
Hehe
sound_of_silence ago
Putt.. i've wanted to give voat $100 so many times.. but the rampant and un-addressed user silencing and censorship deters me every time. IF you guys fix what is really wrong i'm sure you would never be in this kind of do or die crunch again... please think about it. @Atko
William_Wallace ago
James Woods seems based AF, ask him
BestDuckEver ago
I'd be totally down with a James Woods Day in celebration of him if he so agreed.
Also, awesome user name. Down with Longshanks!
William_Wallace ago
Agreed and thanks
Millstone ago
I was just about to suggest James Woods.
middle_path ago
Honestly, I don't think it could hurt to reach out to wiki leaks either.
Mr_Dusk ago
dont forget the credibility of wikileaks is still in question with the whole assange situation.
fagnig ago
Chuck C Johnson could host a crowdfunding/patreon type deal? https://www.wesearchr.com/