I consider myself a search founder, constantly seeking my next venture-scale business idea to build from the ground up. I’ve worked in startups for the last decade, experiencing the roller coaster ride of entrepreneurship as both an employee and a founder - and I’ve been lucky to experience everything from stagnant growth to fundraising to acquisitions to an IPO.
Hey Emma - Fantastic post! I was really curious why your (ideal) venture would have to be ad-free. Beyond the maybe "icky-ness" associated with them, is there something from your experience that would steer you away?
Thanks for reading, Eric! You're spot on, it's mostly the general "icky-ness" of ads. I think sometimes ads make sense or are necessary if it's the only way to monetize (like Facebook or Twitter). I would personally like to discover a business that end-users or businesses find the inherent value out of and are willing to pay for (like in the form of subscription, transactions, or processing). I think dark UX practices like boosting polarizing / false content or selling data without user benefit are often the side effects of ads, and those practices are generally disliked by users. I've also seen the custom ad sales process while working in media tech, and it's a very manual process I would like to avoid. Take this with a grain of salt though - this is me talking from an idealistic perspective very early on.
Hey Emma - Fantastic post! I was really curious why your (ideal) venture would have to be ad-free. Beyond the maybe "icky-ness" associated with them, is there something from your experience that would steer you away?
Thanks for reading, Eric! You're spot on, it's mostly the general "icky-ness" of ads. I think sometimes ads make sense or are necessary if it's the only way to monetize (like Facebook or Twitter). I would personally like to discover a business that end-users or businesses find the inherent value out of and are willing to pay for (like in the form of subscription, transactions, or processing). I think dark UX practices like boosting polarizing / false content or selling data without user benefit are often the side effects of ads, and those practices are generally disliked by users. I've also seen the custom ad sales process while working in media tech, and it's a very manual process I would like to avoid. Take this with a grain of salt though - this is me talking from an idealistic perspective very early on.