[aminozuur]

Why would you want to make it more profitable? The alternative is giving your users a better, ad-free experience. What makes you happier: 1) Getting $100/month in revenue 2) Having a fast growing group of users who love your web-app?

[stanmancan]

I don't think that's really a fair comment. There's lots of reasons to want to monetize a project, including to pay for servers, fund future development, and fund future projects. All it takes is a few small sites/services that are making >= $500/m via ads or paid customers to be able to quit your job and focus your time on said projects.

[betenoire]

The parent worded it poorly IMO. But the notion is real.

The parent made it seem like you had to choose between making money or a good app, which is obviously nonsense.

But I do identify with getting more gratification from solving a problem well and offering to others for free than potentially making money off of it. I might be weird, but money is a drug, and I'll take just what I need (or what my wife says we need).

[sharemywin]

But if you take the ads of and it grows faster you need to see if the growth is worth the loss in short term revenue. Facebook was a perfect example.