

Ask YC: What do you think of my revenue sharing startup? - rksprst

This is not my main focus, but is launched since we managed to do code it (in php) in only two days (my "main" startup is coded in asp.net and I haven't done anything in php in over a year so this was a fun project to do some simple php again).<p>The main idea behind it is revenue sharing for game guides. Users spent hours writing game guides and then sites (which I won't name) make money off those guides. We want to share the ad revenue with the users that do all the work.<p>Any comments, ideas?<p>Here's the URL: http://pwnguide.com/
======
SwellJoe
I think you should do a little bit of research into motivation and the way
trivial rewards effect returns. People don't actually behave the way you think
they do.

An interesting experiment in the field involved asking people on the street to
assist in changing a flat tire.

When simply asked for help, the response was pretty high. A significant number
of people helped.

When offered a small cash payment (a few bucks), the positive response rate
dropped dramatically.

When the cash payment was raised to something relatively sizable, like $50,
the response went back up to about the same as just asking for help.

I won't try to explain this phenomenon (though I think there's the obvious
fact that being paid a few pennies is far less satisfying than helping someone
out of the kindness of your heart). I believe the fundamental reason every
single revenue sharing business has failed to take off (a few minor successes
excluded) is because they fail to accept this bit of humor nature. It's a
pretty fundamental flaw, so it really ought to be taken into account.

~~~
ntoshev
I basically agree with you, just I'm not sure which revenue sharing businesses
are doomed and which are not. AdSense is obviously far from doomed. eBay is in
the revenue sharing business as much as a game guide sharing site would be.
What is the reason they succeed while others fail?

~~~
SwellJoe
I think those are a different model, but your bringing them up has put things
into a really interesting light for me.

It's the difference between a feudal system or a sharecropping system and
owning your own land (but generally having to go through the commodities
market to sell your goods--you still cut someone in on your profits, but you
decide just about everything else about your business). And maybe that's
actually why "revenue sharing" sites fail. Sharecropping worked for
years...until something better came along. So, maybe the sharecropping age of
the Internet never really came before an economy of independent production
arrived, and so maybe it'll never happen on a large scale.

It's also based on the, probably incorrect, notion that there can only be so
many "destinations" for any particular type of information or good on the
Internet. As search gets better, as the semantic web grows (slowly, ever so
slowly), and as the Internet population grows ever more diverse, it seems
likely that the idea of a "destination site" will seem rather quaint. So,
destinations that allow people to sharecrop on their real estate are probably
doomed to fall under the onslaught of independent farmers.

Of course, the analogy could be flawed.

------
lbrandy
It's a good idea. I like it. Also, I'm pretty sure "imappriately" isn't a
word. Check your FAQ :P

~~~
rksprst
Thanks! Fixed.

------
alain94040
Amazing how this is so similar to our own startup (fairsoftware.net). Online
collaboration with revenue share is happening.

