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Comment by alexknowshtml | Hacker News Reader

Neither of those points safeguard you from it turning into something other than what YOU want. That's the point I'm trying to make.

I don't have a specific reason for doubt, but I don't have evidence for confidence either.

I'm 100% behind a paid API as a service for the purpose of financial sustainability. But I don't think that's what has actually been purchased by the first batch of customers.

They paid for a dream, like you. And that's okay.

My point was to make sure people had a chance to see that's what they purchased. :)

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There are three factors that I think lend credibility in this case:

1) Dalton's founding vision is strongly principalled. This is what will give the company the strength to battle against the temptation to stripmine the value of the company the way that Twitter is doing with their developer-hostile stance.

2) The fact that 10k+ people put down a significant payment up front mean that there is a buy-in and critical mass to the service that mean it will have some value from day one, even just to users, and even if it is impossible for it to completely replace Twitter.

3) The money in the bank means there is both means and pressure for App.net to be developed quickly.

None of that is a guarantee, but I think it's a strong foundation for success.

I get the difference between buying a finished product and helping fund the prospect of one you believe in. It's speculation with the return measured in non-monetary means. A point that could've been made in a tweet, on Twitter even.

Re read what you just wrote. Is there ANYTHING that is guaranteed to become what EVERYONE wants? That includes the owner.

You have no evidence to either doubt or believe. Like you have said, you chose the former, some people have decided to choose the later. That was a cool scenario until you decided your position is the right way.

What I expect from a developer like you is to attempt building/prototyping what you would like to see on top app.net. Non devs like me can speculate on what products might/come from this and things we would like to see.

To be clear, it is very good to raise questions, but let them be of substance . There is a great way to go about it [1]

This is Hackernews, we do not spend all our energy and focus on the several ways things might fail. We have more than enough people wired for that.

BTW, I am not a financial backer yet. Hopefully, I will be soon enough.

[1] https://social-igniter.com/blog/2012/08/why-we-support-app-d...

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