How I'm Thinking About Monetization (Before the App Even Launches)

Most founders treat monetization as a problem to solve after product-market fit. I understand the logic — don't distract from growth with revenue complexity too early. But I've watched enough companies get this wrong to know that the decisions you make before launch shape your options after it.

So here's how I'm thinking about money, right now, before the app has a single paying user.

Freemium with a creator tier.

The core app is free. Builders who want advanced analytics, scheduling tools, or priority placement in the feed pay a monthly subscription. This is the model I'm most drawn to because it aligns incentives — the people who get the most value from the platform are the ones who pay for it.

The risk: if the free tier is too good, nobody upgrades. If it's too limited, nobody stays. Getting that line right is the hard part.

Sponsored content / brand partnerships.

The audience I'm building — developers, indie hackers, people building products — is genuinely valuable to certain brands. Dev tools, hosting companies, productivity software. I've already had a few inbound inquiries from companies wanting to sponsor streams.

I'm cautious here. Sponsorships can distort incentives fast. I'll take them selectively, only for products I actually use, and I'll be transparent about it every time.

The creator fund model.

Some platforms pay creators based on engagement. I'm not ruling this out as a future feature, but it's not in the initial plan. Creator funds are expensive to run and tend to attract the wrong incentives at scale.

Advertising as the primary model.

Ad-supported social media optimizes for attention, not value. I've seen what that does to products and communities over time. I'm not building that. If ads ever appear in the app, they'll be secondary to a subscription model — not the foundation of it.

Raising a round to figure it out later.

I wrote about why I'm not raising funding. Part of that decision is about monetization. If I take VC money, I'm on a growth-at-all-costs trajectory that makes certain monetization models necessary and others impossible. I want to keep my options open.

I don't know exactly how this app will make money yet. I have hypotheses. I'm testing them. The beta will tell me a lot about what users actually value enough to pay for.

What I do know is that I'm thinking about it now, before the pressure of needing revenue forces a bad decision. That's the advantage of building slowly, in public, without outside capital.

The goal isn't to maximize revenue. It's to build something sustainable — a product that earns enough to keep improving, a community that's worth being part of, and a business I'm proud to run.

More on this as the beta progresses. If you have thoughts on what you'd pay for in a builder-focused social app, I want to hear them — reply to any newsletter issue.