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The operating cost of adult and gambling startups

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Re: The operating cost of adult and gambling startups

#101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the more relevant point is: But almost all social networks and search engines won’t let you advertise without a license from the required jurisdiction. Which is a good thing! This is an area full of scammers, if you can't set up your business legally, I'm very happy to hear it's more difficult for you to advertise it.

I mean, you also can't advertise illegal drugs either. Doesn't seem to curb demand though. It may actually be more beneficial to allow these things more broadly, because then social safety features can be wedged in between consumers and suppliers more easily and they don't have to deal with a gigantic shadow market that already gets stigmatised to death by the rest of the population. Just accept that a certain percen…

>I mean, you also can't advertise illegal drugs either. Doesn't seem to curb demand though.

Making drugs illegal does not eliminate demand, but it absolutely curbs it. The converse is also true, for example legalizing cannabis in Canada has significantly increased demand for it [1]. While it's true cannabis use had been gradually increasing for decades prior to legalization, there was a significant spike afterwards which has since levelled off.

[1] https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/231016/dq231...

Re: The operating cost of adult and gambling startups

#102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, you also can't advertise illegal drugs either. Doesn't seem to curb demand though. It may actually be more beneficial to allow these things more broadly, because then social safety features can be wedged in between consumers and suppliers more easily and they don't have to deal with a gigantic shadow market that already gets stigmatised to death by the rest of the population. Just accept that a certain percen…

>I mean, you also can't advertise illegal drugs either. Doesn't seem to curb demand though. Making drugs illegal does not eliminate demand, but it absolutely curbs it. The converse is also true, for example legalizing cannabis in Canada has significantly increased demand for it [1]. While it's true cannabis use had been gradually increasing for decades prior to legalization, there was a significant spike afterwards w…

> The converse is also true

It isn't true, at least not as a hard and fast rule. Post-legalization changes in demand differ greatly per country. It completely depends on contemporary cultural factors of the country in question.

Re: The operating cost of adult and gambling startups

#103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the more relevant point is: But almost all social networks and search engines won’t let you advertise without a license from the required jurisdiction. Which is a good thing! This is an area full of scammers, if you can't set up your business legally, I'm very happy to hear it's more difficult for you to advertise it.

I mean, you also can't advertise illegal drugs either. Doesn't seem to curb demand though. It may actually be more beneficial to allow these things more broadly, because then social safety features can be wedged in between consumers and suppliers more easily and they don't have to deal with a gigantic shadow market that already gets stigmatised to death by the rest of the population. Just accept that a certain percen…

What's even the point of having laws at all if some people will just ignore them and do whatever they want, right?

Re: The operating cost of adult and gambling startups

#104
post #15

> When posting job openings, you will always have to beat around the bush, without using direct language. And only then, when the candidate has already agreed to an interview or even after it, do you tell them what kind of content they will be working with every day. > Employees join such projects for various reasons. Some realize that the pay is better than in legitimate projects. Others come because they couldn’t f…

This,

Had a recruiter reach out to me the other day from a sports gambling website (one of the major ones, as reputable as you can get in this industry). I heard them out, thinking they would offer above market rate but in actuality, they offered significantly below market rate.

Re: The operating cost of adult and gambling startups

#105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you recommend a history lesson that will destroy my life in seconds? Book, podcast, youtube would all be acceptable formats.

Tim Snyders videos

Maybe I haven't seen enough of his videos. They seem generally informative? Perhaps a bit depressing but I wouldn't say that watching a Tim Snyder video can ruin your life like gambling can.

Re: The operating cost of adult and gambling startups

#106
post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I mean, you also can't advertise illegal drugs either. Doesn't seem to curb demand though. Making drugs illegal does not eliminate demand, but it absolutely curbs it. The converse is also true, for example legalizing cannabis in Canada has significantly increased demand for it [1]. While it's true cannabis use had been gradually increasing for decades prior to legalization, there was a significant spike afterwards w…

> The converse is also true It isn't true, at least not as a hard and fast rule. Post-legalization changes in demand differ greatly per country. It completely depends on contemporary cultural factors of the country in question.

Your claim is far too open ended to interpret clearly.

A change in demand post-legalization can absolutely be highly variable across different countries/cultures, but unless you can demonstrate a country that legalized cannabis and saw a decline in demand, then your as of yet unsubstantiated claim does not refute mine.

Re: The operating cost of adult and gambling startups

#107

You may have a cool product in the field of sports betting, casinos, or lotteries. But almost all social networks and search engines won’t let you advertise without a license from the required jurisdiction. Good . You should face social stigma for creating products that literally ruin people's lives.

[flagged]

Crippling gambling addictions are a well studied issue that has ruined many lives. It is not a "moral" problem.

Re: The operating cost of adult and gambling startups

#108
post #15

> When posting job openings, you will always have to beat around the bush, without using direct language. And only then, when the candidate has already agreed to an interview or even after it, do you tell them what kind of content they will be working with every day. > Employees join such projects for various reasons. Some realize that the pay is better than in legitimate projects. Others come because they couldn’t f…

This, Had a recruiter reach out to me the other day from a sports gambling website (one of the major ones, as reputable as you can get in this industry). I heard them out, thinking they would offer above market rate but in actuality, they offered significantly below market rate.

Employment at a below market rate might be the only job some people can get due to events in their past i.e someone with a criminal record that puts most employers out of reach.

There is a large talent pool who want to get their lives back on track.

Re: The operating cost of adult and gambling startups

#109
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the original person you replied to, but as far as I'm concerned there are a few questions that could very easily indicate which side of the line is something. E.g. - Is it addictive? - Does it have the potential to destroy lives? - Does it have the potential to destroy lives in seconds? - Does it have a strong lobbying mechanism behind it? (n.b. things that are good and nice rarely need someone to bribe people to…

These questions sound very rational until you realize that sugar, performance cars, military technology and history lessons can tick all those boxes.

Not sure if the history lessons are a joke, but sugar is rightfully taxed or otherwise disincentivized in many countries, because it is highly harmful to society as a whole. Sports cars definitely get some yes answers, and are also rightfully taxed in several countries.

Military technology may be an exception as "necessary evil", but also is a bad example because it id not consumer-oriented.

Re: The operating cost of adult and gambling startups

#110
post #14
post #3

What's the author trying to say here? It's good that the law isn't the only line between good and evil. A bit of stigma is a bottom-up way for people to shape society. If nobody invites you to dinner parties because you run a startup that combines payday-lending and day-trading, that's a good thing. It's free alpha for companies doing more worthwhile things.

> line between good and evil Talking about good and evil in tech is a slippery slope. What's worse, working at Meta building products causing addiction in kids, or building an adult content site? I think there's an argument that Meta is morally worse, yet there's no stigma associated with having Meta on your resume. I find that interesting.

> yet there's no stigma associated with having Meta on your resume.

You think so?

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