Ask HN: What is it like to run a VPN as a business?

#1

Post by hazz99 » Sun, Oct 07, 2018, 2:11 PM UTC

Hello,

I'm going to set up my own VPN on some cloud hosting provider, and I'm toying with the idea of turning it into a small business.

Is there anything I need to know beforehand? Is it really that easy, or are there legal issues I need to handle?

Cheers

EDIT:

I should note that I know this is an extremely saturated market - I'm not aiming to build a hyper successful business, but moreso to manage a small public VPN as an ideological side-project. Anything above breaking even I'd consider a bonus.

Re: Ask HN: What is it like to run a VPN as a business?

#2

Post by cube00 » Sun, Oct 07, 2018, 2:49 PM UTC

The problem is that just like you're able to quickly run up a VPN on a cloud provider, I can do the same. There are plenty of drop in containers for this now and the barrier for entry is low. I think you're just opening yourself up for a world of legal pain and costs given what most people will use VPN services for.

Re: Ask HN: What is it like to run a VPN as a business?

#3

Post by Topgamer7 » Sun, Oct 07, 2018, 2:50 PM UTC

You're going into a heavily saturated market. Not to mention anyone technically savvy can set up their own VPN in 10 minutes on a cheap DO host or other provider.

Re: Ask HN: What is it like to run a VPN as a business?

#4

Post by qrbLPHiKpiux » Sun, Oct 07, 2018, 2:51 PM UTC

cube00 wrote: post #2

The problem is that just like you're able to quickly run up a VPN on a cloud provider, I can do the same. There are plenty of drop in containers for this now and the barrier for entry is low. I think you're just opening yourself up for a world of legal pain and costs given what most people will use VPN services for.

Your saying that if you use a VPN you are up to something nefarious?

Re: Ask HN: What is it like to run a VPN as a business?

#5

Post by jonny_eh » Sun, Oct 07, 2018, 2:51 PM UTC

Try it and report back, I'm curious

Re: Ask HN: What is it like to run a VPN as a business?

#6

Post by trulyrandom » Sun, Oct 07, 2018, 2:53 PM UTC

I've also toyed with the idea of doing something like this, and would like to know more about this as well. Like you said, the technical side seems easy. I imagine handling legal issues is going to be the bulk of the work. How are you going to handle abuse reports? How are you going to handle requests from authorities asking to turn over user data? And most importantly: how much information about your users are you going to collect to make handling the legal issues easier?

Re: Ask HN: What is it like to run a VPN as a business?

#7

Post by simple_man » Sun, Oct 07, 2018, 2:58 PM UTC

You get consistent revenue from the NSA.

Re: Ask HN: What is it like to run a VPN as a business?

#8

Post by todd3834 » Sun, Oct 07, 2018, 3:02 PM UTC

The fact that it is easy to set up a VPN does make this more competitive but that doesn’t mean you can’t build a business. Think about who your customers will be. Is there an underserved niche that you can reach? It might take a HN reader 10 minutes to set up a VPN but my mom wouldn’t be able to figure it out if you gave her 10 months.

My battle plan for assessing whether or not I would pursued this would be the following:

1. Who is my target market?

2. How big is that market?

3. How will you reach that market?

4. How can you test whether or not you can reach that market before getting fully invested?

5. Test out several ways to reach your market. Try changing the niche and marketing plan until you can find some positive signals.

6. Analyze the data and make an educated guess whether this is worth your time or if you would enjoy doing something else more.

As far as legal issues, I don’t have any good advice but talk to a lawyer. Look at some terms of use of existing VPNs. Find out where you are liable and try to mitigate your risks the best you can.

If you ever want to brainstorm some ideas hit me up at my email on my profile.

Re: Ask HN: What is it like to run a VPN as a business?

#9

Post by chadash » Sun, Oct 07, 2018, 3:03 PM UTC

From a technical perspective, you're probably not breaking new ground here. The main things you'll need are ease-of-use and good marketing. There are existing companies that do this and make it fairly easy to get up and running, so you'll need to do the same. Perhaps start with a niche (e.g. easy setup on Ubuntu) and build from there. Still, your biggest hurdle is going to be that no one has heard of you, so make sure that you have a well designed landing page and think about who you'll market the product to.

Re: Ask HN: What is it like to run a VPN as a business?

#10

Post by joshmn » Sun, Oct 07, 2018, 3:07 PM UTC

Topgamer7 wrote: post #3

You're going into a heavily saturated market. Not to mention anyone technically savvy can set up their own VPN in 10 minutes on a cheap DO host or other provider.

I'd consider myself tech savvy and I happily pay for a VPN (PIA). I don't want to manage a node, and at $40/year it's about equal to what I'd pay otherwise.