zlacker

>>waxpan+(OP)
I'm a participant in a community that explicitly refuses money from outside its membership. If that means we can't grow fast, or have fancy digs, so be it.

The reason for that, is to avoid having influence from outside. Even "angel" investment can be problematic, as the "angel" has the ear of the leadership.

I have found that even well-meaning outsiders can have highly destructive influence, because they don't understand the culture and they aren't the ones on the hook, if things go pear-shaped, as opposed to the ones that have a real, personal, stake (like all those Ello users, who lost so much).

>>ChrisM+t21
and how much do you know about the internal workings of that community? how much do you know about it's "future"? how transparent is it about how much time top level management and leadership are investing and how they are compensated for it? how much do you know about the financial sponsors of the members of your community?

>>wtbdrg+Rc1
Actually, a whole lot.

But that's a story for a different venue...