It’s interesting you say the 10% is fair. I think some disagree.
In short they are selling web hosting and card payments, which are most likely worth far less than 10%. However, they’re clearly going for being a Brand that people want to publish under. Substack is worth 10% because it’s Substack, not for the tangibles they provide.
Now that leads to the question: what do they need to do to be a brand people want to be a part of? Is censorship part of that? Maybe, maybe not.
The other interest related piece that is topical at the moment is whether Substack might be worth 10% for card payments alone if certain publications would be unable to use payment providers otherwise. Porn and gambling sites often pay that sort of rate because it’s hard to get a payment provider. Maybe laundering nazi sympathy in with a bunch of tech blogs is worth 10% to them.
In short they are selling web hosting and card payments, which are most likely worth far less than 10%. However, they’re clearly going for being a Brand that people want to publish under. Substack is worth 10% because it’s Substack, not for the tangibles they provide.
Now that leads to the question: what do they need to do to be a brand people want to be a part of? Is censorship part of that? Maybe, maybe not.
The other interest related piece that is topical at the moment is whether Substack might be worth 10% for card payments alone if certain publications would be unable to use payment providers otherwise. Porn and gambling sites often pay that sort of rate because it’s hard to get a payment provider. Maybe laundering nazi sympathy in with a bunch of tech blogs is worth 10% to them.