@ Laeserin
2024-04-23 06:04:28
# Why GitCitadel is primarily self-funded
This week has been full of discussion about the various pros and cons of what I've previously described as the "patronage funding model", including a formalized version called "grants":
> This is the current common business model. A creator (artist, developer, writer, etc.) receives grants or donations that are more or less attached to conditions.
-- [The Zap Economy](https://njump.me/naddr1qqxnzde3xqunyvfexc6rgd3nqyg8wumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnhd9hx2q3qm4ny6hjqzepn4rxknuq94c2gpqzr29ufkkw7ttcxyak7v43n6vvsxpqqqp65wdh8gvu)
We at [GitCitadel](https://njump.me/npub1s3ht77dq4zqnya8vjun5jp3p44pr794ru36d0ltxu65chljw8xjqd975wz) have been questioned repeatedly, as to why we have not applied for a grant, when we are putting so much time and effort into the Nostr ecosystem. I would, therefore, like to explain the logic we have used to make this decision:
## We are a package deal
We aren't merely a product team, we're a project team. That means that we aren't building a product, we're building an entire line (or suite) of products, and the corporate and technical infrastructure to support them.
Those products will be marketed under our own brand, built upon our own tech stack, and managed by our own team. We're used to doing this sort of thing for our various employers, so we haven't seen much benefit in looking outside of our team to acquire such things. Applying for formal grants would undermine this strategy, as we would be expected to tie into the grant-giver's own brand, stack, and team.
## We have external income sources
We have made the point, to anyone interested in joining, that our project cannot and will not provide a source of income large enough to replace anyone's current source. At least, not yet. We are receiving donations and will eventually have a pricing model, but this project is our labor of love, not a get-rich-quick scheme. More a go-broke-slowly scheme, if anything.
We see this as a feature, rather than a bug, as it means our personal financial well-being is not immediately tied to our project work, and is therefore more secure, stable, and independent. This allows us the ability to ruminate, take time discussing architecture, and make more grandiose plans. It also allows us to discuss funding models, amongst ourselves or with a wider audience, while remaining calm.
Not everyone is in the same financial position and not everyone wants to split their attention, in such a manner, and we respect that. We also respect the right of every project member to decide differently, for themselves, and to apply for grants in their own name.
## We're enjoying "L'expérience FOSS"
This is our first, major, open-source, software project. This is our chance to do something different, to be edgy, to build something for ourselves, to try out new technologies and strategies, to found a company and design a brand, to tinker and scheme... To boldly go where no team has gone before!
But, seriously.
We're having fun. We're friends. We're enjoying the ride. We wouldn't enjoy the ride as much, if we were driving someone else's car.
## We want to prove that it can be done
One of the things we found disturbing about the Nostr ecosystem is the pervasive pressure individual developers are under to apply for grants and labor full-time on Nostr products. It can feel quite rebellious, to simply tinker on evenings, weekends, or holidays.
It isn't rebellious.
It is a perfectly normal and acceptable way to contribute to a growing technological ecosystem, and we want to help re-normalize it. The emotional pressure to deliver new features at a rapid pace is exciting, but onerous, can lead to developers burning out and eventually moving on, and is the main cause of the frequent low quality of the existing software and the plethora of abandoned repos. This is the landscape that grants sometimes build.
We are here to show that "steady, stable, secure, supported, sturdy" sounds dull and a bit slow, but it can also be a winning development style, if the team chooses it deliberately and plans accordingly and cultivates a team environment that makes "code and chill together" a long-term motivator. We think the Nostr ecosystem is ready to accept a team with this style, and it's a style that advanced grants simply aren't designed to support because grant-givers have to account for the money spent within a reasonable time.
## We want to support independent funding models
As with all things, talk is cheap. We are all persons eager to establish independent funding models because we want Nostr to help create a free market of sovereign individuals, at the global scale. We think this is a particular "good work" that Nostr is in a prime position to define, but it won't happen, if nobody actually does it, or if only a few do it and and are perceived as greedy oddballs. There needs be a lot of people doing it, including large, influential teams.
The strongest motivation to develop such models is the profit motive, and that is inevitably weakened by grant-lethargy. One has to take risks to become a change agent, so we have put ourselves on a diet, to get our creative financial juices flowing.
We have decided to stay hungry.
https://image.nostr.build/28ddca2ef029e8be27e351867f37e457e2070e005f5588f88f486208709ee00d.jpg