Ask HN: Are there any companies that invest in free products?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9068002

by kiraken • 11 years ago

2 3 11 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I'm building a web app that helps unemployed people create attractive and professional Resumes for free and a job board that could boost their chances at finding a job. I know that i could make money from this in multiple ways even if i'm not gonna charge the users, but in case i want to make this completely free would there be any investors that could get interested in this sort of things?

scorpwarp23• 11 years ago

Yes definitely. Investors (Tech. Angels, VCs etc.) are all open to the idea of 'free' products as long as there is a monetisation/revenue model in play.

You don't need to charge users to make money. Data for e.g. is a great avenue for revenue.

Why do you think all those investors invested in the likes of Google & FB anyway?

kiraken• 11 years ago

As i mentioned there are multiple ways i can make money without charging the users, but i was wandering if i could get investors if i don't make any kind of revenue from it. And i find that selling users info to be unethical so it's very unlikely that i'd do that

mrcold• 11 years ago

You're looking for benefactors, not investors. An investment assumes a way to recoup the money.

An approach would be an NGO. Advertise the service and your vision and ask for donations to keep it going. You can also look for government grants related to unemployment. You could even ask the job seekers for a donation after they find a job.

Other than that, "dirty" monetization techniques are pretty much the only way to go. Ads, data selling, spam etc.

Ask HN: Are there any companies that invest in free products?

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