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 →
baneofretail ago
We all thank you, info to donate is on the Sidebar. I'm going to create a spreadsheet later and see if I can get funding updates from @puttitout.
toobaditworks ago
You have to spell the name right for the ping to work: @PuttItOutdisinfo sorry.
baneofretail ago
really, cause when i spell it in all lower caps, it directs me to his page, or did i completely duff the spelling?
toobaditworks ago
The links will work without caps but people have said when you ping someone it needs the exact spelling (caps) due to the code. This could be wrong. Maybe putt can shed some light on it.works without caps... sorry
baneofretail ago
I think his inbox may be a bit full for the next couple of days.
toobaditworks ago
I'd say test it on my username but I don't have caps. Maybe @ToObadItWorks will work?
baneofretail ago
@TObadItWorks
toobaditworks ago
Got it. So caps doesn't matter. :)
baneofretail ago
Awesome, learn something new every day. Do you have a moment to speak about our savior Voat the Goat and how you can help support this website? v/Goats4Voat
toobaditworks ago
I do! Do you have any literature?
baneofretail ago
If you can, please donate to help us keep Voat running and free. As a thank you, we will display a donor badge on your profile. You can also donate Bitcoin at Coinbase. Coinbase seems to have shut Voat's Merchant account off! Thanks Coinbase, love you too. New Bitcoin Wallet Address: 1PhBpbED6uEnrvy5s9F9axBZbK8fWAeZdc
Copied from the sidebar, but if you enjoy free speech, please be sure to dontate what you can. Feel free to comment on v/Goats4Voat to receive a monthly reminder to donate any amount above $5.00