Ask HN: A startup that is not charging user and still profitable?
Do you know of any startup that is not charging users or taking a commission from sales and still profitable?
Yes, I do. I still really wouldn't suggest you try it. The countries' stoops and prisons are covered with was-a-sure-thing-to-go-pro. And the Internet has several million sites already hunting for that six figure AdSense check. (While boring little niche websites with subscriber numbers smaller than many people's Facebook friends list can be ramen profitable within weeks or months of launch.)
That said: I mostly agree with you and I think we'll take a look at the list and realize that they're all extremely lucky and/or happened to be at the right place at the right time.
http://www.fortworthstartups.com/2009/01/05/how-to-make-mone...
They automatically suggest [= scales with no marginal effort] financial products which they claim are good fits for the users (who are not the customers). For example, they might say "You're paying $X in interest a month with your current credit card Y. If you were to switch to credit card Z, you would only be paying $Q, saving you $P a month."
Credit card Z then pays them an affiliate commission for the lead. The issuer of credit card Z is the actual customer.
It's really all about extremely targeted but transparent marketing as well as finding interesting ways to utilize user data. The data and its interpretation is what is really valuable, and that is what the customers are paying for. It cant just be simple advertising though, it has to resolve a shared necessity of both customer and user.
Mint also gives the managers at Intuit nightmares.
There are millions of websites, making millions from advertising, without charging users.
that said, i consider advertisers, investment professionals, and hr recruiters "users"