A handy guide to financial support for open source. This document aims to provide an exhaustive list of all the ways that people get paid for open source work. Hopefully, projects and contributors will find this helpful in figuring out the best options for them.

Toyota’s emphasis on efficiency proved transformative for the Food Bank.

We can and should support the companies we love with our money. Companies can and should have balanced streams of income so that they’re not solely dependent on just one. We all should consider the business models of the companies we trust with our data. But we should not assume that, just because we pay a company they’ll treat us better, or that if we’re not paying that the company is allowed to treat us like shit. Reality is just more complicated than that. What matters is how companies demonstrate their respect for their customers. We should hold their feet to the fire when they demonstrate a lack of respect.

Successful, but how successful, and to whom, and what does that mean in terms of getting along in the world?

A history of Tumblr and the monetization issue it faces.

To assess a film's odds of success (because even crowdfunders don’t want to back a loser), a prospective funder would want to know what people in the know—who are part of the “industry” in one way or another—make of it. This is the point often missed by those hailing Kickstarter as a revolutionary project that could emancipate the artists: What defines potential “success” for their film is still very much defined by the industry heavyweights.

"Much of the power of Beach House's music lies in the way it forgoes simple, this-means-this storytelling in favor of communicating indescribable emotions," wrote Lindsay Zoladz in her Pitchfork review of their latest album, Bloom. Switch a few words around, and this perfect evocation could have emanated from DDB's pitch meeting to Volkswagen. Which is not to belittle Zoladz's criticism, nor to build up ad-speak as any more than means-to-an-end capitalist labor. Instead, this connection highlights the idea that critics and marketers often seek the same positive criteria in art.

Instagram succeeded for many good reasons, including its design, its viral qualities, its simplicity, and the fact that its engineers focused so obsessively on making sure that it works all the time. Part of its success, no doubt, is the fact that it was just in the right place, at the right time, with the right, crowd-pleasing mix of features.

On why the ‘Zombies, Run!’ is $8 instead of $1, and why it works.

“I love entrepreneurship, and I love tech startups, but sometimes I'm struck by the lack of perspective that many tech entrepreneurs have about creating a startup. One of the most common things that entrepreneurs in the tech sector lose sight of is that most companies never get venture capital funding, especially outside of the technology world. That's not to say that VC hasn't played an important rule in the growth of many of the biggest and best companies, sites and apps. It's just not the only option.”

Mike Monteiro, the head of Mule design, explains the importance of being confident, getting paid, and having contracts and a lawyer. An excellent presentation.

“Using a database of vacant real estate in a given city and a platform for collecting propositions or pitches, we allow entrepreneurs a marketplace of ideas that is able to match their own predilections and interests with ‘please in my back yard’ [rather than NIMBY] demand. Individuals vote on the future land use and spatial assets that they want to see in their own city and their own backyard. If that voting is done with the wallet, similar to Kickstarter, would it be enough to usefully bootstrap entrepreneurs?”

1. Understand the buyer. 2. Passion matters. 3. Charge money. 4. Experiment with tons of models. 5. Bootstrapping is the way to go. 6. Practice, practice, practice.

How to figure out what a client's budget really is. "Don't be smarmy. Don't be curt. Be respectful, be honest, and inform your prospect during the sales process. If you do it right, right from the start, you'll build mutual respect and communication into the entire project."

Thoughts and collected quotations on Bandcamp's change of plans.

An International Monetary Fund veteran explains how the US financial situation is like that of a less-powerful nation's developing economy. Oligarchy, corruption, and the financial sector's control of the government — it's not good.

"The most immediate revelation, of course, is that at some point next year revenues from gigs payable to artists will for the first time overtake revenues accrued by labels from sales of recorded music."

On the price of software.

"Steve Jobs gives a legendary keynote at Macworld SF every January, launching products and giving a state of the union view of things at Apple. What if you invested $10,000 the day before the keynote, then sold at the end of the keynote day?"

On negotiating your way into better prices. Certainly a case-by-case hobby, but there are some lessons to be learned here. Somewhat lengthy.

It takes time and a lot of guts, but you'll save money. "It really works... but it works only if you truly are willing to walk away... and then refuse to bend when they try to put you off or change the terms. Stay civil, do not let any emotion in."

Profile of the Burt's Bees company and their success.

On the merits and shortcomings of Adsense, and how to use it successfully.