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Mark Smith ([staff profile] mark) wrote in [site community profile] dw_biz2009-08-17 11:35 am
Entry tags:

semi-regular business Q&A session

It's been a while since the last one, so [staff profile] denise suggested that we do another Dreamwidth-the-Business Q&A session.

But first, some data. One of the things that we promised when we started this site - and still do! - is that we will be open with the details of how the business is run, how it's doing, where your money is going, etc. Given that, here's the breakdown of our first few months of operations (discounting May):

June: $7,500 income
July: $5,000 income
August (thus far): $2,500 income

This is pretty much what we expected. More people buying accounts towards the beginning of the site, tapering off as we come up towards the various renewal periods. We're comfortable with these numbers and trends so far.

Our current monthly expenses come to about $6,000. This breaks down roughly 50/50 into "server costs" ($3k/month) and "people costs" ($3k/month). We are presently paying a few people as contractors to do time-sensitive and business-critical work for us. (Systems administrators, ToS enforcement, and some development time.)

We are not, currently, paying any salary to Denise or myself. (Which is one thing we really hope to fix...but stay tuned for today's news post.)

Summary:

Dreamwidth is running slightly in the red, but has enough money in the bank to keep the site running for several years at the current run rate. We have a few things in the pipeline which we hope will allow for us to increase the attractiveness of the site to paying customers (features) as well as give us more sources of revenue (credits, virtual gifts, etc).

There will be more data about our next-6-months plan in the upcoming news post. But for now, if you have any particular questions about the business, things you want clarified, or anything, please comment. Denise and I will be happy to answer!
azurelunatic: Vivid pink Alaskan wild rose. (Default)

[personal profile] azurelunatic 2009-08-18 08:04 am (UTC)(link)
No; you can put 100 ponies on someone's profile.
mstevens: (Default)

[personal profile] mstevens 2009-08-18 08:14 am (UTC)(link)
That sounds EXCELLENT.
azurelunatic: Vivid pink Alaskan wild rose. (Default)

[personal profile] azurelunatic 2009-08-18 08:23 am (UTC)(link)
It's a bit overwhelming when it happens to you, I must say. It's also overwhelming when it happens to your friends and you've subscribed to notifications. (During the Pepsi Max incident, which coincided with the <^>efw incident, a lot of support people learned this the hard way, as official comms and The Intern got a whole lot of Pepsi Max very fast. This was repeated in a more friendly fashion when one Support person promised another Support person 5,000 ponies.)
pauamma: Cartooney crab wearing hot pink and acid green facemask holding drink with straw (Default)

[personal profile] pauamma 2009-08-19 06:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Believe me, it's not :-(
owl: pen handwriting; use it for journalling (writing)

[personal profile] owl 2009-08-18 08:40 am (UTC)(link)
As has been known to happen :)