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Why Pennyseed?

Why another crowdfunding platform? There's already Patreon, Kickstarter, Gofundme, Gumroad...

Though there are several ways for people to monetize online, each have their pros and cons:

  1. Pay-per-Media
    • Money comes from users
    • Hard to Share and reach more people
    • Price is arbitrary due to no overhead
    • Worry about Piracy and Torrenting
  2. Subscriptions
    • Users pay a regular fixed amount
    • Users can access all content
    • Users still pay even if no new content is created
    • Users have to subscribe for a period just to watch a single piece of content, cancelling after
  3. Streaming
    • Users pay a regular fixed amount
    • User payment is distributed amongst creators based on streamed content
    • Pay-per-Stream model can be exploited
    • Rewards replayability over quality
    • Incentivizes Creators to exploit fans to stream their content multiple times for cheap prizes
    • Users have to subscribe to an entire Network even when they just wanna watch 1 or 2 creators' content
  4. Advertising
    • Content can be free
    • Can Share and reach more people
    • Incentivizes Creators to generate clickbait content
    • Money comes from sponsors, not viewers
    • Creators are beholden to sponsors, compromising content
  5. Donations
    • Money comes from Users
    • Content can be Free
    • Quality over Quantity, since more content doesn't mean more donations
    • Users aren't sure how much to pay (nor how much the Creator needs/has)
    • Unstable income due to irregular donations
    • Users can be emotionally manipulated into donating
  6. Crowdfunding
    • Money comes from Users
    • There's a clear goal for users to reach
    • Content can be Free
    • Once passed the goal, anything extra could've gone to other Creators they supported
    • Winner-takes-all approach where few popular Creators get the bulk of the potential pledges
    • Irregular pledge amounts lead to pandering to large pledgers who contribute most of the funding
  7. Merchandise
    • Money comes from Users
    • Free advertising from wearers
    • Users who want to support the Creator may not want that particular product
    • Creators are incentivized to sell cheap products for high prices for greater profits
    • Manufacturing & Shipping Fees

...but then we realized something:

  • Problems
    • Arbitrary Pricing with no guarantee of a stable income
    • Little incentive for supporters to encourage others to contribute
    • Creator has to do extra work for money (merchanidise, commissions, side jobs, etc)
  • Insight
    • The Creator wants everyone to enjoy it
    • Most of the money goes to living expenses
    • Fans aren't paying for Content - they're paying for Future Content
  • Solution
    • A "Split-the-Bill" Model that divides the Funding Goal by the number of Pledgers
    • Specify a minimum number of pledgers to ensure a maximum possible pledge amount so pledgers aren't scared of paying too much
    • A Minimal Design that doesn't try to be a Social Network
  • Benefits
    • Creators are guarenteed the Exact Amount they specify
    • Pledgers are incentivized to share the Campaign to reduce their Pledge Share
    • Minimal Design allows for a wide range of emergent applications and extensions

How does it work?

  1. Sign in
  2. Create a Stripe Account to receive payments
  3. Create a Campaign specifying the following:
    • Funding Goal
    • Reason
    • Deadline
    • Minimum Number of Pledgers
  4. Pledgers login, add their payment information, and pledge to your campaign
  5. By the end of the deadline:
    • If the minimum number of pledgers are met, all pledgers are charged (funding goal)/(number of pledgers) and the campaigner gets exactly how much they set in the funding goal
    • If not, then no charges are made and life goes on :(

By the deadline, if the Minimum number of Pledgers is met:

  1. Each pledger is charged (Target Amount)/(Number of Pledgers), which is sent directly to the Campaign Creator

Otherwise, if the Minimum Number of Pledgers isn't met:

  1. Nothing happens; life goes on

You can check out our FAQ for more details

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Pennyseed is created by Ukaton