Nostr Web Client

Is it just me, or does it seem like everyone is super reluctant to monetize services and relays on #Nostr?

If we can’t make these things sustainable then we will either lose them, or they will stay nothing more than a weird little corner of the internet with lots of hope but no chance of ever scaling.

I still haven’t seen the basic model of zap sharing tried by any major client or relay. But I DO see regularly comments about how expensive relays are. I mean it might not work, but can’t we TRY it?

I want to make the distinction here too that this doesn’t mean we are closing off the network, we are adding permissions to the protocol, this doesn’t suggest at all to used closed source code, we simply need the services necessary to keep this ecosystem robust, to be profitable and have the resources to thrive. If they aren’t, then NONE of this works. Economics is everything.

I know building features is more exciting. I know we all want to make everything that we can free, and I agree all of the *code* should be shared. However, I think there is a natural insecurity (and I say this because I have this problem personally) with charging a fair price, and fearing criticism or the ire of people who believe everything should be free (as in price) when we need things to be free (as in Liberty). They are not the same, and confusing the two could stifle, or drastically slow down, the insane potential of this place.

TL;DR We have GOT to divert some energy to thinking about how to make this ecosystem sustainable, or we will lose it.

(Disclaimer: this isn’t a judgement on whoever is thinking about this problem. It just *seems* like few are. If you are building in this way please share your ideas or what you are trying. I’m extremely interested)

JeffG 2y ago

I love this call out. 🤙

When I first found Nostr, I spent a lot of time thinking about monetization and the implications of an open protocol approach to the internet. The last 20 years has been built entirely on a model of captured network effects which drive monopolies and VCs who are happy with a 90%+ failure rate in their investments because they know that when these monopolies succeed, they end up owning an absurdly profitable and defensible business.

It's my belief that Nostr is going to drive many much smaller, but still profitable and sustainable businesses. In a way, it'll be a return to a world dominated by small and medium businesses each serving their customers directly with product and services that those customers appreciate and pay for.

Whatever the long-term outcome, I'm with you on the need for intense experimentation with pricing for most/all Nostr projects. We need to treat these as businesses, not just hobbies.

Reply to this note

Please Login to reply.

Discussion

Guy Swann 2y ago

Exactly. A hobby network will not and cannot ever be adopted by the entire world. But a profitable ecosystem of network provision on top of a completely open protocol and a universal social graph you can take anywhere, will fucking destroy everything in it’s wake.

I love the way we are building & love the community ethos, but I’m here to change the fucking world. 🔥🫡

average_bitcoiner 2y ago

Linux enters the chat…

nohea 2y ago

This post made me think of how Linus Torvalds and others made millions instead of billions and created a permanent commons critical infrastructure tool which anyone can use for free.

average_bitcoiner 2y ago

But also. Please teach me how to monetize skillz. I often sell myself cheaply.

JeffG 2y ago

Just raise your prices. It’ll be scary the first time and then you’ll realize that the market is less sensitive than you think. 😅

BoomTown 2y ago

One of the challenges with a hyper capitalist economy is that most content / production on a money forward basis returns to its cost of marginal production, which is zero for ideas (and wind energy and solar energy, etc.).

How do you create a network that operates profitably if there is no defendable “moat?”

This is why railroads are such a fascinating industry…the value of a single railroad from A-B can capture almost the entire value of the supply chain from A-B … a second railroad alongside A-B renders both almost totally worthless on a go-forward basis.

Technology (compute) has this challenge … expensive to develop upfront and then the profitability is tied to the marginal cost of production on a go forward basis (low). Same with pharmaceuticals, same with commodities, etc.

The Bit Block Boom relay I paid for went down recently … no idea why …

Moss 2y ago

💯👏

JeffG 2y ago

Agree that most tech does asymptote to marginal cost but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t moats.

My guess is that brand is going to be become the most important driver of business success. In a world starving of attention signal cutting through the noise is all that will matter.

Ava appreciate Calm & Wisdom. 2y ago

Mais un écosystème bien détaillé surtout explicité pour tout nouveau nostriche ne venant pas de la Tech mais a des idées pour créer ou apporter des solutions (sur le plan social, économique, professionel: sociologiquement parlant tout ce qui peut être utile et aidant à tout quidam sans oublier les différents contextes socioculturels...et tous enjeux de survie de chaque espèce avec notre environnement commun. ..voire plus ailleurs sur d'autres planètes vivables pour toute espèce

Ava appreciate Calm & Wisdom. 2y ago

Guy je serais intéressée d'avoir un aperçu de votre vision pour changer le Monde, et pourquoi pas faire comme sur votre note voire des questions ouvertes qui permettent de bien mûrir vos approches

JeffG 2y ago

💯💯

Me too. It’s like that old Marc Andreessen trope about software eating eating the world.

Nostr will eat the world but we have to find the new business models to power it.

Ads…

SaaS…

??…

Jeroen ✅ 2y ago

Your view on this new way of competition and no 'winner takes all' has been on my mind a lot since our last call. I really couldn't have thought of this myself and still have difficulty wrapping my head around what it means for the future, and how we should anticipate this. It's contradicting so much of what I've learned last year in my studies. Good stuff!