Ads are the most frequent answer, but it's not the only one. There's also the team getting acqui-hired, or getting bought by a competitor & shut down, or just plain old going out of business and sold for parts. None of those are good for users, obviously, but they are all viable paths for repaying VCs in absence of a business model.

Sure, I guess I meant for long-lived products.

I really hope they do freemium.

If they can run it with a small enough team, then freemium could be feasible. Sell special tools and functions to the power users.

> "We've incorporated a legal entity whose entire purpose is to make money, but we have no idea how that's going to happen."

That's quite the reach. The actual information you got, is them not telling you publicly. Either because they can't, or don't want to.

I mean, I do sympathize with your frustration, tho. Every time I read this lobotomized "Rampart-AMA" PR shit, a few of my own brain cells commit suicide. It's insulting.

Relax bro, you're just looking at it upside-down.

The ads let you know what services are not worth your time, or only worth consuming with sufficient adblocking.

They're really doing you a great service by advertising that you're the product.

Also, hope is not lost for ad-free capitalism. For the first time ever I'm actually paying for subscription services that don't have ads (yet). Mostly to do with search and AI.

Look, those underpants aren't going to collect themselves, are they.

And don't worry about Phase Two. Phase Three is when the profit will happen.