Mastodon is financed by crowdfunding instead of venture capital not because we don't know that venture capital exists, not because we don't have bills to pay, and not because venture capital isn't willing to give money to new social media platforms. VCs don't want a sustainable business, they want a big exit. Every VC-backed business is on a timer to deliver or die.
@Gargron Having taken VC money for a startup, I want to confirm for others everything you've said. They promise big returns to their investors, but most startups fail, so they need the successful ones to make gobs of cash. Modest successes get pushed to take big risks until they get rich or die trying. And if they do win big, they'll be pushed to extract ever more cash, causing enshittification. That's the VC game, and Mastodon is smart not to play it.
@williampietri @Gargron Anything that requires an exit strategy in order to get money is a fucking scam.