SandersAK

Yep, you've kinda nailed it. We're moving towards that on Beacon. But right now our primary focus is on helping writers convert their existing readership into paying subscribers.

As the content offering as a whole becomes more robust, you'll start seeing more of the effects you're looking for.

It's really simple and old fashioned: You think certain information or perspectives are valuable, you pay for them.

We're just updating the underlying tech and user experience to modern times ;)

Yes! So first off with regards to photographers we're starting to experiment with that. Dmitri and I built an app called Backspaces before so we brought on a power user from there. his project on Beacon was super successful: http://www.beaconreader.com/projects/extraordinary-everyday-...

And we're also moving into political cartoons and comics: http://beaconreader.com/ted-rall

At the end of the day, we're very keen to experiment and are open to lots of mediums and content types.

If you know people who might be interested, please SEND THEM MY WAY: Adrian@beaconreader.com

Happy to hop on the phone and chat with anyone!

It's something we're still playing around with but one of the early issues we had was that some writers would come onto Beacon with a smaller subscriber base, but would add a really valuable article into the system that everyone read, and not feel fairly compensated.

If you generate value on Beacon, we want to make sure that's reflected in money.

So we came up with the idea of the bonus pool as a way to reward writers when their articles were widely recommended.

Currently we have a "Worth It" button which is basically like an upvote or a like - except it equates into real dollars.

Again, it's pretty new, but we're very excited about it. Last month, we had a relatively new journalist who's top article paid her out $1200!

Maybe in the future but the reality is that the last 10 years have been focused on distribution of content as the primary goal. We're focused on monetization, and helping creators make more money and delivering more value for readers who support them.

no worries - hit me up if you have thoughts you want to share later - adrian@beaconreader.com

cofounder of Beacon here - would love to get grilled by the HN denizens and get feedback about what we're doing!

Definitely one of the realest teams out there. Amazing how much people underrate them. Congrats.

I've heard it can take as many as 7 tries!

this is probably the most constructive thing anyone could have done. this is a great list. thanks!

It's like you took all the best parts of Evr.st, but stripped away all the pretentious bullshit because you're genuinely into the idea.

So yeah. It's awesome. Congrats!

So a few things:

It seems obvious that some types of companies (like entreprise) that have been started in 2010 are not going to be valued at >$1b yet. It takes time.

This information would probably be more valuable if you cut it up by area (consumer v entreprise etc) and did comparables inside those areas.

"Started since 2003 and valued at $1b or over by public OR private markets"

To me, those are completely separate ways of valuing a company - one is realized (in that anyone who owns shares outright can sell them for the value stated) and the other is purely speculative.

It doesn't matter that Fab is "worth $1b" especially as it heads towards the toilet bowl over the last 10 months.

Again, companies valued at >$1b on private is an interesting group to look at, but trying to compare it to public doesn't strike me as very useful.

The one thing this article does is tell me that it's hard to hit $1b realized or unrealized. But I don't think anyone thought otherwise, no?

I get that people are trying to be helpful, and think that's great.

But this blog post was awesome, raw, and captured something that so few of us can really relate to.

Dude grinds for 10 years, keeps grinding, doesn't know where to go but will probably keep grinding.

"Twicsy, you son of a bitch. You frustrate me so. I love you, but oh how I hate to love you."

Shine on, buddy. Best of luck!

Yeah I think that's a fair point. Though then is the goal of a post just to incite conversation as opposed to articulating a well considered opinion?

garlic presses - so efficient right?

I guess if they're good noise makers that get conversations started then maybe that's a net positive.

I just start to wonder if hyperbole is the most effective long term way to communicate - tho to use my own argument against me, i suppose deciding "most" is not the point ;)

I never understood these types of posts: Take something that is worthy of criticism (the abuse of funnels in user acquisition) and then use hyperbole to make them seem like the worst thing ever.

It's a tool to understand the progression of total audience into customers on a website. Just like CSAT and NPS are both valuable indicators of growth potential.

None of these things are the only thing that matters. And none of them are the best tool or methodology. Just like a spoon isn't the best accessory in the kitchen. That award obviously goes to the garlic press.

David Hodge and co are legends. Congrats.

this is awesome. thank you!

thank you kindly!

thanks!

I think this is a fantastic idea. It's worked out really well in America with the way we've treated each new wave of immigrants...

you've got to change one of those things. there are plenty of reasonable obstacles to not starting something - it's your job to decide whether or not it is worth finding ways to overcome them.

The biggest problem with the "this is how we are, deal with it because it's efficient and direct" is that it's just not true.

There is nothing efficient about being a dick.

There are basically two ways that being a curt dick can be functional: [1] The other parties involved are extremely empathetic and look past the messenger to understand the message. [2] The curt dick has enough power to brow beat / intimidate / badger others into getting their way.

Neither of these are long term sustainable solutions, because empathy between parties is a two-way street. Simply put, you can't sustain empathy unless the other party grows.

Hackers pride themselves on the "fuck you" attitude that disrupts stuff, and I get that, and I like it. But the flip side of that is that an inflexibility to understand and communicate with others ultimately will dull your edge and you'll wind up short of what you want to achieve.

It's not what you say, it's how you say it - not because it's a nice feel good thing, but because how you say something is incredibly important in efficiently disseminating your message, and often time the success of your goals depends on it.

Writing off people who push back on you being a dick is writing off an entire population of people who don't see the world 100% your way... you know, like everyone besides you on the goddamn planet.

You gotta bail if you don't have faith in your co-founders. It's really the only thing that matters at this stage.

It seems like most of the feedback here is about how they will monetize, not necessarily how the app actually functions, no?

Can't speak for daily SF users, but as an NYC commuter who goes places other than just work and home on a regular basis, Embark has been far and away the best thing on my iPhone.

Also, my schedule isn't always fixed, so Embark is great at telling me when trains are coming, etc. etc.

I agree that there's lots of transit apps, I've downloaded a lot of them, but I end up keeping the Embark ones.

Use Embark NYC religiously. Now i've got this one for SF visits where, lets be fair, public transit is a gotdamn mess.

This is a high risk high reward gamble by Tesla. If people take this offer, they are basically getting to lease to own.

Musk is betting that the car will be so good that people will want to keep it.

If it's true, then buyers are getting a great deal and Tesla wins with a lot of cars on the market, and in turn, a lot of leverage to get their charging stations all over the place.

If it's not true, then it all goes to hell over a year period where people are returning them and Tesla is buying them back.

Musk is basically saying "there is nothing better than a Tesla, and I am willing to bet the farm on it."

I think, like most things, most of this stuff is case-sensitive. If the situation resonates with you, then the experience of what happened is valuable.

It sounds like you already have your mind made up and you've committed yourself to making the leap. Lots of people aren't there yet.

As for freelancing - your best bet is hitting the pavement and meeting people. People tend to kick jobs to friends or people they personally have connected with.

First step might be to, instead of waiting for work to bang on the door, open the door and go out and get it :)

yes! you said this way better than I did.

also to your point of chain of command - i used to work as a forest fire fighter and I can tell you that chain of command is definitely a contentious issue. It really does need to be a give and take where you can draw on the macro advantages of someone higher up but rely on actionable decisions from people on the front lines.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. For me, the expectation to each person to complete tasks and projects, the understanding that culture is about mutual understanding, and the sheer volume of production they've produced given their lack of resources is exactly like a startup.

To your point, well organized adversaries like local politicians and police are akin to pre-existing companies and vertical leaders who take too much time to act and are bogged down in rhetoric and bureaucracy.

Like any analogy, this one definitely has its limitations, but the points I made were things that struck me as uncannily similar to my experience working with my team on Backspaces.

That's just my perspective though, and can certainly see where you're coming from.

I'm totally with you - I was super skeptic of Occupy and was definitely a hater during the wall street protests. With that said, I've been impressed by what they have achieved compared to the likes of FEMA and Red Cross here in NY.

Consider me a convert ;)