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1000 True Fans? Try 100

a16z.com

131–140 of 224 posts

Re: 1000 True Fans? Try 100

#131
post #47

1. The article shows a pyramid and it's important. In order to get a few "true fans" (people prepared to pay dearly for what you produce), you need a large amount of "distant fans" (people who like what you do, as long as it's free). The key word is conversion , and, regrettably, it's not present once in the post [0]. It's probably in the 1 to 0.1% range. [0] Edit: In fact it is (convert). However in the next paragra…

[deleted]

Re: 1000 True Fans? Try 100

#132
post #63
post #47

1. The article shows a pyramid and it's important. In order to get a few "true fans" (people prepared to pay dearly for what you produce), you need a large amount of "distant fans" (people who like what you do, as long as it's free). The key word is conversion , and, regrettably, it's not present once in the post [0]. It's probably in the 1 to 0.1% range. [0] Edit: In fact it is (convert). However in the next paragra…

Although I agree with all you are saying and your general sentiment, I just want to understand why you state that Physiotherapy is scammy?

[deleted]

Re: 1000 True Fans? Try 100

#133
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting point with the pyramid, a podcaster (Sam Harris) recently turned his free podcast into a "freemium" model where you get half of each episode for free. I imagine this is going to completely kill his following, as it did for me. Freemium is actually being charitable, it's more like shareware.

It's going to kill his following among people who want to follow him for free, but by definition they don't bring him any money. If you have enough paying users, meaning your business gained momentum, you don't really care about free users anymore.

But how do you get new users? Podcasts are already very niche...

Re: 1000 True Fans? Try 100

#134
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting point with the pyramid, a podcaster (Sam Harris) recently turned his free podcast into a "freemium" model where you get half of each episode for free. I imagine this is going to completely kill his following, as it did for me. Freemium is actually being charitable, it's more like shareware.

It's going to kill his following among people who want to follow him for free, but by definition they don't bring him any money. If you have enough paying users, meaning your business gained momentum, you don't really care about free users anymore.

Some of the free users might pay. Small percentage “conversion” into paying users. But this can be done only once a large following was built and that model seems a bit disingenuous to me, free to paid, and I like the model where the content creator gives some extra to paying users.

Re: 1000 True Fans? Try 100

#136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is "Goop"?

Overpriced pseudoscientific junk products sold to gullible people and hyped by a minor celebrity obsessed with her vagina.

> obsessed with her vagina

Who has a basic misunderstanding on what exactly a vagina is.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/01/goops-netflix-series...

Re: 1000 True Fans? Try 100

#137
post #47

1. The article shows a pyramid and it's important. In order to get a few "true fans" (people prepared to pay dearly for what you produce), you need a large amount of "distant fans" (people who like what you do, as long as it's free). The key word is conversion , and, regrettably, it's not present once in the post [0]. It's probably in the 1 to 0.1% range. [0] Edit: In fact it is (convert). However in the next paragra…

Good points. Based on my experience with whales in f2p games you will get outsized income from 0.1% of whale users, reliable income from 20% of hobby users, and one-off spend here and there from the rest.

When I think of someone paying me $1000 for art that others may pay only $20 or $5 for, first of all it still feels like charity from the whales. I think you could meaningfully create $20 and $5 tiers for any digital art. But what do you sell to raise the value two magnitudes other than status? Selling status to whales relies on a huge "commons" population for them to feel superior to. Nobody whales in a vacuum.

Second issue is whale rarity. Just to find your first $1000 whale you already need 1000 fans. The rest of them are only paying you $20 x 200 = $4,000 and $5 x 799 = $3,995 per year. That's $10k/yr.

The idea that you could only cultivate a stable of whales with artistic output is ridiculous. You somehow need to make the whales believe that the general population is their commons and then sell them status over gen pop, which is probably why the article hones in on wellness as the only vehicle in town.

Re: 1000 True Fans? Try 100

#138

The problem with the "passion economy", which was alluded to in another comment, is that it strengthens the already too-prevalent assumption that everything can and should be monetizable. Markets are useful but they don't need to be involved in every aspect of existence. Sure, you don’t need to participate in Patreon to make stuff, but the trend seems to be toward relying on consumer market forces to fund culture. Ty…

Yeah, this is a tragic outcome for culture in general but free content isn’t sustainable either, people need to pay for rent, food, and other expenses. Im still waiting for the micropayments system to spring into existence..

Re: 1000 True Fans? Try 100

#139
post #76
post #47

1. The article shows a pyramid and it's important. In order to get a few "true fans" (people prepared to pay dearly for what you produce), you need a large amount of "distant fans" (people who like what you do, as long as it's free). The key word is conversion , and, regrettably, it's not present once in the post [0]. It's probably in the 1 to 0.1% range. [0] Edit: In fact it is (convert). However in the next paragra…

Interesting point with the pyramid, a podcaster (Sam Harris) recently turned his free podcast into a "freemium" model where you get half of each episode for free. I imagine this is going to completely kill his following, as it did for me. Freemium is actually being charitable, it's more like shareware.

I just listened to Darknet Diaries for the 1st time. Awesome podcast, especially the Xbox Underground series.

I noticed they mentioned an extra special interview at the end for paid subscribers. Seemed like a fair thing to do to me.

Re: 1000 True Fans? Try 100

#140
post #42

I'm having trouble envisioning very many markets where a "fan" is going to consistently spend $1k/year. The article mentions professional training and education, which makes sense. I can also see certain people spending that kind of money on physical goods (mechanical keyboards, audiophile equipment, one-of-a-kind art pieces) but $1k of revenue from physical goods is very different from $1k of income . Other than tha…

It needs to be direct engagement at that price point. No one is going to pay Rachel Ray 1000/year for blog access. Someone may pay her 1000/year for access to Skype cooking lessons. High end prostitutes are a nontech example of where they should focus on a small number of Whales. Also people who get paid to do keynote speaches at 20-50k a pop could have long term engagements with 100 fans paying 2k/year.
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