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
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NeedleStack ago
Closure? WTF? Why not tell us sooner so we could pull together for a huge donation drive? Anyway, what's done is done.
Prepare for donations but please don't let it slip like this again.
Be transparent and regularly let us know what reserves you have and what you need to keep running.
Edit: Please email me regarding the crochet goat auction. We need to lock down logistics.
markrod420 ago
have you somehow been out of the loop on voat's funding issues? I thought it was pretty obvious voat is in need of funding. if I had any spare money I would be doing my best to help. that and if I believed that we have any real power left in this world. but sadly I think our power is basically limited to circle jerking on message boards.
NeedleStack ago
No one had an inkling the state of finances were this dire. An earlier heads-up would have been helpful to prevent such straits.
Tor1 ago
This just happened.
It's the first bill at full price.
Donbuster ago
Exactly, I asked several times for additional transparency months ago, and got a decent amount of attention, but no response. I've donated myself several times, and as much as I don't want to see this place go, I feel at this point, seeing that nice big 6.6k a month number, that, unless I see actual progress towards financial stability. Money is tight, and I don't want to simply piss it away, seeing as that comes to nearly 10 bucks an hour to keep running. The ads, too, even if we filled up every day (and I can't remember the last time we had an ad buy), aren't nearly enough, seeing as for a full day of having your ad run, we get less than 3 hours of time.
Something needs to change. Either we need to get a sponsorship (which won't be all that appreciated by the voat community, though if we were able to get the attention of a free speech group like journalists without borders or the EFF, or a similar group, I imagine backlash would be minimal), or we need to dramatically reduce costs.
Even if we do cut costs, we still need a reliable source of funding. Much as I know many here hate the concept of price gating features, a "reddit gold" style of monetization might be highly effective. If, again, our costs at current capacity are $10 an hour, and it costs, lets say $3 to guild yourself or someone else, then we MIGHT be able to generate enough income.
As far as sponsorship shit goes, this is really the only thing I could find with an organization that aligns with Voat's beliefs in regards to free speech. https://rsf.org/en/supporting-media-outlets-and-ngos
We aren't a media outlet in and of ourselves, and this is CLEARLY more intended for those trying to publish accurate news in repressive countries, but its worth a shot. It seems likely that reporters without borders recognizes the need of free discourse on the internet, and the rate at which that discourse is disappearing.
Intheknow ago
Seems like ransom...A goat appeared on my desktop last week and said voat was now financially independent. Why then say its failing? Odd to me but hey, "you da boss".
markrod420 ago
I guess I just saw the previous cries for help. never saw any significant resolution to those cries, and assumed voat was still on the path to insolvency but perhaps at a slowed rate. admittedly a little warning about this before all the discounts and promos wore off may have been good.