[ajkjk]

I hear you.

Really all I want is a solid app that's only Facebook's event system and friend lists and nothing else.

But I can't see any growth-motivated company ever making that and just stopping there. I'd even pay for it, if I thought they wouldn't try to make more money after that. Maybe it would have to be a non-profit.

[jamwhite]

Long time lingerer here.

My co-founder and I are building a groups and events system (like Meetup) that has a friends list and things like instant messaging. Our business model at the moment is freemium with ads and a limited organizer experience (you can create small groups/events) or we are offering a small subscription ~$5/mo. The subscription model removes the ads, unlocks all organizer features, and removes all limits on organizing groups/events such as being able to create a hierarchical organization with the tooling to manage it.

We are currently in YC Startup School as Geddy at geddy.io and we plan to launch soon.

[ajkjk]

Sounds great.

My main concern is that if you're in startup-crazy VC-funded world, you're eventually going to try to make more money, somehow, off my presence on your site -- through selling data or advertising or whatever.

If I do join it, I'll immediately leave when that happens. But if I think it might happen, I won't join it. The thing that would get me really interested would be a promise (ideally a legally restrictive one, like being a B-corp or a non-profit) that that won't happen.

I think that everyone (at least in my age group?) is slowly becoming enormously skeptical of companies offering services. I _want_ to use a service forever and have it be good and trustworthy. But in practice I feel like I'm getting tricked and manipulated at every turn, which is just slowly turning me into a luddite.

[Yhippa]

https://www.facebook.com/local/

I believe you still need a FB account.

[ajkjk]

Definitely not interested. I want something that provides a service for money and won't about-face to trying to milk me for growth, ad revenue, and commodified personal data.

[abawany]

(I promise, I am not shilling) Meetup (meetup.com) lets you make a group for I think $20/month (group participants can contribute to help the organizer) and is perfect for organizing events, sending calendar invites, providing a group forum and mailing list. I have been using it for about 10 years to keep up with local tech groups and it works great.

[Larrikin]

I love meetup and have found it extremely useful in a new city to try and meet people with similar hobbies. But I've also found there are basically two types. The people who are truly passionate about a hobby and are willing to take losses occasionally and the groups that are sponsored for an obvious reason. In Japan, where I discovered the site, there were lots of groups that just wanted to get native English speakers so they members didn't need to pay for English classes. In America most of the tech events are simply put on by companies who are looking to hire. Often times the events are still worth it and enjoyable, but it's definitely disappointing if you go to one and don't realize the underlying reason for the group existing. I've found the ones put on by the passionate people to be the most worthwhile and worth the more expensive dues.

[Yhippa]

I am worried those days are long gone. Just like there is no turning back for gaming. F2P elements in nearly everything including paid games!

[Splines]

> Just like there is no turning back for gaming. F2P elements in nearly everything including paid games!

There are plenty of paid games that do not include any kind of microtransaction. I'd consider the paid-games ecosystem to be surprisingly healthy these days. But to be fair, it's all console/PC. Mobile games are likely to remain a F2P wasteland.

[mikestaub]

I'm working on exactly this, stay tuned for the beta. peapods.com

[ajkjk]

Sounds neat. Any chance you could put something on your site about your, like, philosophy?

Facebook and similar make me wary of getting excited about anything which seems superficially good without first understanding the underlying intentions of the creators.