Do You Want To Be An ATS Owner?

Willing to pay as much as I can to keep this place running. It’s the one of the few websites I visit. Without it I’d have no use for going on the web

a reply to: IAMTAT

PMed you

originally posted by: ThePeaceMaker
Willing to pay as much as I can to keep this place running. It’s the one of the few websites I visit. Without it I’d have no use for going on the web

ATS is the ONLY social media I have.
I have no interest in anything else.

If someone has experience and interest in writing a business plan for this...please...make yourself known.
Ideally, a rough draft should be presented here for discussion.

Again, the original idea for a joint partnership between members and existing owners has been nixed.
The current owners really do wish to move on after many great years of running a great site.

But, the idea of a member 'buy out' is still an option.
The interest appears to exist here...but putting this into motion will not be an easy thing...and people should realize there will be risk involved.

I don't believe we have much time to get our act together...but I hope this thread has, at least, has managed to give owners an indication that the membership interest and financial wherewithal does potentially exist.

I leave this tread to those with the necessary legal, tech and business experience to take this effort to the next level.

a reply to: IAMTAT

I have that experience, and the necessary resources...but investing is something that I do carefully, and ATS being perceived as tolerant of white supremacy is a major concern. I used to think that was completely untrue and undeserved, but after seeing some stuff in recent threads, I'm not so sure anymore. Associating with something like that, even tangentially or the false appearance thereof, would be professionally damaging. It's also a bit strange to see conspiracy theories get torn apart on the basis of being conspiracy theories...if the majority of the membership are no longer conspiracy theorists and the skeptics who make up the other side of that coin, then who are they? I'm seeing a pattern, where so many of the threads I've most enjoyed seem to all be timestamped prior to 2008, as some have pointed out, and that makes me really think twice about what I'd be putting my money and time towards.

Also, posts from SO on the matter so far have remained very nebulous on valuation, which I find worrisome. It's sad to say, but business owners don't get compensated for time running a deficit, and if that factors into the valuation I would definitely be a no. The "100k for re-coding in 4 months" thing that people are talking about is also highly questionable...I could hire three coders for a year, full time, at that rate...I don't really understand where that estimate comes from.

I'm taking a wait and see approach, but there are many serious concerns here that other professional investors would likely see as major stumbling blocks...

Edit: I personally still think a place like this should exist, though. But I'm thinking maybe a blank slate would be a good thing.

5 or 6 owners a ONE TIME 10,000 K each . 1000 members 100 - 200 a month Rip ATS .
The site may still be only line but who will ATS reach ?

One solution - A site i know of that takes almost as much to run as ATS But has NO ADDS zero and has been online 15 years . A Donations area ( donate 10 $ get something The site its self has special for people who donate )

But thing is that takes work Lots of work the main guys who run the place are posting and keeping peoples focus on donating The site is still going strong 15 years after it started Not one add not one person being charged for membership . Think out side the box .

O and coffee cups and shirts just wont pay the bills as i said something special .
If ATS goes ill miss it But really guys what does ATS contribute ? If ATS goes down then the people here Mite just get up go out to voice there ideals and heck even drop teh pounds they packed on being computer potatoes .

a reply to: Bent8484

The sad truth is that the times we are coming into, anything supportive of the United States, it's Founding, etc., is perceived as white nationalist in certain quarters.

Look at the national madness taking place. They are now pulling down statues of Jefferson and Washington. It won't end with that. They'll look to erase the Founding, including the COTUS and Declaration for their own, "better" versions, because those documents, having been written by old, dead, white slave owners are inherently racist and evil.

And people laugh at the idea of re-education, but that's where we are heading. The same people laughed at the idea that Washington and Jefferson would become targets too.

Understand, concepts like math, objective truth, facts, and logic have all been academically smeared and white supremacist.

When these are things that get discussed here ... what logical conclusion do you think TPTB will draw?

You cannot have a frank discussion of racial issues without discussing the issue from both sides too. It's not like racial issues only and ever involved the grievances of black folks and white folks must shut up and be endlessly lectured about it. Last I checked, discussion implied two parties. Lecture implies one person talking to the rest.

Anyhow, I didn't come back to this thread to make that last post:

A consideration for any potential business plan is a cash shop model. Minor cosmetic features for a price - certain avatar features, banner features, background ability, etc.

Make them cosmetic - things that no one has to have in order to use the site, but things that look cool. Don't charge an arm or leg for them. If you do it right, you can rotate what's available often enough that you get people chipping a few bucks here or there to help keep things going because they see things that are cool - new avatar for seasonal, new banner for seasonal, new backgrounds, etc.

It's something that happens in online games. I get annoyed by it when it's pay to win, but a cosmetic shop is far less annoying because I can pay at my leisure depending on how much I value the service provided.

a reply to: ketsuko

I can tell the difference. My problem is with tolerance for dogwhistle racism. And nationalism isn't necessarily white nationalism, I'm not that naive...but if you're a nationalist, be careful what company you keep, and don't just tolerate unacceptable stuff from people just because they agree with you. I'll argue with conservatives and nationalists all day, it's why I'm here. But I won't just stay silent when I see that type of #, and I don't think others should either, on either side of the aisle. I realize America is focusing its attention on race right now, but that doesn't mean that race is a relevant concern to every damn question.

a reply to: IAMTAT

Has anyone taken the time to add up all the member "pledges" made in this thread?

I'm curious as to how much that equals both monthly as well as the one time investment pledges.

If not - maybe I will when I have some time a little later...

PLEASE STAY ON TOPIC!

This thread is to discuss the possibilities of ATS members becoming ATS owners and/or shareholders. It is not an appropriate thread to discuss off-topic subjects such as nude pics, midgets or other inane, pointless garbage.

To avoid the risk of post bans, please refrain from off-topic posting and either stick to the theme of the OP or don't post at all.

Thank you.

As usual, do not reply to this post!

a reply to: IAMTAT

Let's kidnap warren buffet and demand a few million or wall street sleeps with the fishes.

However we can help and media exposure can too. I've spent too many hours researching and writing articles, and being from down under-who has just had a chinese cyber attack, forget tiannon square i will be a far bigger threat.

We need ATS and i will do what i can to help, or god help china.

originally posted by: Riffrafter
a reply to: IAMTAT

Has anyone taken the time to add up all the member "pledges" made in this thread?

I'm curious as to how much that equals both monthly as well as the one time investment pledges.

If not - maybe I will when I have some time a little later...

Based upon the posts in this thread thus far...we're currently somewhere in the +$70k range...though some have suggested the possibility of larger investment amounts under certain conditions.

There are whispers of substantially larger investment #s from membership outside this particular thread...but much greater membership interest is needed to reach the asking price which has been suggested to be north of $1M.

Just one thought about investment, I think it's an outstanding idea to solicit the member base like this (great thought IAMTAT), and probably even a better idea to shake the trees for funding serial investors/angel investors. That said, it would be a good idea to vet potential investments of larger sums that might come in from high net-worth individuals, at least if the investment operation will be run like capital raising for a typical corporation, i.e. board of investors voted in by shareholders, with voting power proportional to equity stake. It would be a shame to preserve ATS "in name only" where the site lives on, but it loses its character as an independent, non MSM-affiliated entity. There are definitely media moguls affiliated with ~both~ D and R parties with reputations for buying or investing in sites or media operations, only to turn them into propaganda vehicles.

$500, yes.

But understand we can all claim to pay this amount, but without an actual bucket of money to present the ownership this is just gauging opinion. Which is fine.

I hope the next step is an official GoFundMe from the The Above Network, LLC. We all need to see who's writing a check, and who's writing checks their ass can't cash.

Not to mention, it appears somewhat clear the ownership would like to sell it off and no longer be involved. In that case we need a few very wealthy people to do the deal, retain the moderators, switch over to a subscription model once the cloud updates are made and then pray the new owners are as awesome as the current ones. The podcast world has made headway in this area quite significantly.

In the short term, turn off your ad blockers. Please.

Yes $1,000

a reply to: IAMTAT

sorry i'm a pensioner but would go to $100

originally posted by: Riffrafter
a reply to: IAMTAT

Has anyone taken the time to add up all the member "pledges" made in this thread?

I'm curious as to how much that equals both monthly as well as the one time investment pledges.

If not - maybe I will when I have some time a little later...

I've done the calculations on a few of the pledge threads as well as the actual traffic numbers for the site and it would cost around $200 a month per subscription in order to keep ATS afloat