Hey Solopreneurs and Entrepreneurs, today I’m excited to unveil a new product idea that could potentially revolutionize the landscape of User Generated Content platforms — and all this without any VC investment.
For a long time, I’ve been investigating platforms aimed at User Generated Content (UGC), such as Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, and even Medium itself. I’ve found myself questioning their business model, and how other products could disrupt these existing platforms without the need for massive investment. In fact, I believe that with the power of communities, anyone can create a sustainable online product.
One of the challenges I’ve identified in creating an online application based on User Generated Content is motivating users to create content for an application that still has few users consuming or viewing this content. The most effective way I’ve thought of to grow engagement for a content application is to provide quality content creators the opportunity to be rewarded for their work. Some platforms already do this, particularly YouTube and Medium, where content with the highest engagement receives part of the generated revenue, YouTube through ads and Medium through reading by subscribing members. However, apps like Reddit do not offer any type of rewards for users with the best created content. In fact, the only form of monetization for communities is to redirect users away from the platform, which isn’t beneficial for the platform itself.
As mentioned, I believe the most effective way for a solopreneur to create a product capable of competing with existing User Generated Content focused platforms is to attract users to be “partners” of the platform, without them actually having money invested in the platform. Their investment will be the content they generate and, depending on the performance of that content, the user receives a percentage of the profits obtained on that day.
Imagine Reddit, being a free-to-use platform, generates its revenue through advertising. Still, users who create the content for the platform do not receive any…
