[Theforum] another online community^Wbusiness in trouble

Martin Burns martin at easyweb.co.uk
Tue Jun 18 04:11:46 CDT 2002


On Tuesday, June 18, 2002, at 06:36  am, Marlene Bruce wrote:

> http://www.kuro5hin.org/?op=displaystory;sid=2002/6/17/23933/5831

K5's problem? All the costs are staff time, and it's run by 1 guy who
wants to keep it as a paying job. And the justification he's offered for
doing it full-time is 'to be there to fix servers in case they go down'.

If you try to run something K5 size as 1 person and keep adding new
features and maintain the hardware yourself, yes, it probably is a
fulltime job.

Sorry, man, but if you want to run it as a business to pay yourself big
bucks and have no-one else involved, don't expect universal sympathy. If
you want it as a *business*, then don't be afraid to make money.

I'm only a bit of the way through the comments, but several people there
have already made the same point.

(He'd also be in a better place if his hosting company also managed the
kit - even if it cost real money on top of the bandwidth donation, it's
not going to be $70k)

Hmm - here's a good question:
> What do you wanna K5 to be? That is the main question, and not an easy
> one.
>
> a)	K5 as a social club, or a charitable entity. This takes some
> transparency from you. Post financial reports periodically - monthly
> for example. Show your balance sheet and cash flow statements; let us
> know how much do you have on reserves, and how many subscriptions are
> going to expire in the next months. This way, people can decide whether
> to send or not money to you, and how much.
> b)	K5 as an 'entrepreunership' (that's how it's written in English?
> ouch!). In this case, you want K5 to be a successfull company. In this
> case, a simple rule. Don't be ashamed to make money. Sell T-Shirts.
> Sell mugs. Make partnerships. Publish books. Do whatever you seem fit
> to leverage the K5 brand with the public.
> c)	K5 as a corporate sponsored site. That would detract a lot from
> your independent position, but that's nothing wrong with it - it's a
> choice like any other. Pursue a corporate partner that is willing to
> pay you, and to explore all commercial aspects of it for you.

Evidence suggests the answer is (b) but pretend that it's (a) for the
purpose of external relations.

Cheers
Martin
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