Comment by rixed
1 year ago
Such a simple thing as a meetup clone does not cost much to host, and is therefore immediately economically sustainable. The real concern is, as usual: is it easy to move from meetup to there, will my friends do it, etc, which depends on:
- how simple it is to register an account
- how certain are we this is not going to take the same path to profit than meetup
An example I often consider is that of bewelcome.org, that become huge after Covid when couchsurfing decided to preserve its margins by raising prices. The service is simple, non-profit, its management is open, and it's free. It mostly replaced couchsurfing, at least in the cities in europe where I used it.
Can the same be done with meetup? Maybe, I'm not sure people are frustrated by meetup as much as they were from couchsurfing, but I strongly believe that ruby-on-rail is not the distinguishing feature that will win the argument.
> how simple it is to register an account
I think the sign-up flow is super minimal/easy at this point, but I'd love any suggestions you've got in mind.
Relevant features I'll be adding to make it easier:-
- Sign-in with Google option
- Potentially simplifying the RSVP flow with an email magic link - someone suggested that here - https://github.com/radiushq/feature-requests/issues/10
> how certain are we this is not going to take the same path to profit than meetup
I'm pretty adamant about not copying Meetup's model and keeping a Free option available for Groups. I think having a Pro plan with additional features, and potentially taking a % of ticketing fees once we've added ticketing will be sufficient. Have a few other ideas around event listing promotion and group memberships but these aren't fully fleshed out yet.
Open to suggestions on how best to convey that I won't be going the Meetup route to profit!
It may not cost much to host, but does it cost much to moderate?
Maybe it's easy to self-moderate because there are few opportunities for spamming in a site like bewelcome, because most communications are one to one (forums are, in my experience, not very active). Might be harder for a meetup clone, I don't know.