✈️ Relaunch: #BackTheStack

[chadwhitacre]

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✈️ This is the flight deck for the Relaunch: #BackTheStack project. ✈️

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🗻 That project is part of the Make it easier for companies to fund open source epic. 🗻

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Okay! gratipay/gratipay.com#4598 is out the door. This is Gratipay 3.0. We are back! How do we tell the world?

Pre-launch

• marketing materials
  • promo partner prospectus (PDF)
  • press release: Put together a press list #1174
  • video Make a video #1155
  • blog post: Announce #BackTheStack on gratipay.news #1191
  • mailing list: Announce #BackTheStack to our mailing list #1190
• product
  • goal chart ("x% raised of $N"): Soft-launch #BackTheStack! gratipay.com#4650
  • partner logos: Soft-launch #BackTheStack! gratipay.com#4650
  • drop monthly email option: Hide monthly option gratipay.com#4651
  • homepage updates: Homepage updates gratipay.com#4660
  • add file uploads to "what projects?"
  • add logo upload to promo fields: Collect logos for promoting companies gratipay.com#4656
  • add content to homepage:
    • video: Video, etc. gratipay.com#4671
    • list of backers + link to browse all: Browse payments gratipay.com#4607
  • browse/payments—ack backers of the stack: Browse payments gratipay.com#4607
  • update opengraph metadata
  • check on mobile
  • update star notice under banner
  • add Gaug.es

Post-Launch

• publish a steady stream of content: Editorial calendar #1180
  • prospectus—one-pager for clued-in devs at companies to give to their boss (PDF)
  • update goals: Set goals #1177
  • update rewards: Set rewards #1184
  • add updates section to homepage (latest N from Medium/Twitter/Facebook)
  • faq(?)
• line up stickers: Make "#BackTheStack October 2017" stickers #1176
• post ad on RtD: Post #BackTheStack ad on RtD #1192
• push press release: Put together a press list #1174
• finalize distribution plans: Distribute funds #1162
• reach out to companies: Generate leads #1170

Partnerships

• OSI: Partner with OSI #1161
• npm
• TwitterOSS
• Changelog
• Libraries.io
• StickerMule
• Read the Docs

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✈️ This is the flight deck for the Relaunch: #BackTheStack project. ✈️

---

[chadwhitacre]

@jdorfman and I are working on this here at #1044. Thought is:

• line up 3+ launch partners
• line up a media partner or two
• publish a press release

Pitch for partners:

• logo on homepage during launch
• mention in press release
• logo in newsletter to 6,000

[chadwhitacre]

Potential Launch Partners

Sponsorship - Cash

• Adobe
• Microsoft
• GitHub
• ???

Sponsorship - In-Kind

• StickerMule
• Twitter
• ???

Media

• Changelog
• The New Stack

[chadwhitacre]

Timeline

I want to get this out ahead of #1139 in early October.

Best day to publish is Tuesday.

Let's aim for September 26.

[chadwhitacre]

Pitch to Partners

• logo on homepage during relaunch
• logo in email newsletter announcement (we have 6,000+ emails on file, can send once + opt-in for future)
• sustain open source!

[chadwhitacre]

Draft post: https://medium.com/@whit537/gratipay-3-0-6949be9505d1.

[chadwhitacre]

Earliest Adobe could buy would be December (new budget year).

Talked to Code Fresh ... "1 month, $500, pilot ... $1,000 after that. Yeah, maybe. Talk to Dan."

[chadwhitacre]

This is Gratipay 3.0.

Let's get clear on what this means. I would like to go for It™. What is It? The big culture change in tech: $2,000 per developer per year into open source. The whole hog. The shocking idea. The shift in the Overton window. A sea change. 🌊

Gonna see about a PR against http://inside.gratipay.com/big-picture/strategy ...

[chadwhitacre]

P.S. slack

[chadwhitacre]

Let's aim for September 26.

Let's not. :-)

Now thinking let's do some steady sales for a month or two and see when we reach 3-ish customers, then build up some marketing momentum around that. Having companies jump in will be the biggest marketing boon.

[chadwhitacre]

Sales plan:

1. companies that were giving on Gratipay in the past
2. https://github.com/ossfriendly/open-source-supporters
3. companies that are giving on OC now (see also: 2)
4. big companies a la 🗻 Make it easier for companies to fund open source #987 (comment)

[chadwhitacre]

Alright, two things happened yesterday and collided in my sleep last night and I dreamt that we rescued the galaxy from demon lords and saved Twitter's stock price at the same time.

1.

I went back and revisited the email conversation I had with Walker from Teespring last year. It ends with this message from him:

This is a marketing challenge, IMO.

You need to change the perception that it's okay to use open source without contributing back to it. I'd mark the calendar for an "open source day" and try to make a huge hash tag and movement about giving back to open source, which gratipay is at the center of.

If you can change the perception that it's okay to use it without giving back, and you're at the center, that's a massive movement. Companies that don't give back and use the software should be shamed about it, etc.

There's a rut in my brain which runs between "We should do a 30 day campaign Kickstarter-style. Back the stack!" (#1057) and "But we want companies to give all the time." Shipping the new homepage for me was willfully choosing the latter over the former ... but! From a marketing point of view there's little reason we can't run a time-boxed campaign to drive traffic to this new homepage.

2.

TwitterOpenSource started following us on Twitter:

This is significant because of the size of their following and the weight of the Twitter brand. Looks like I neglected to report over on #1044 that I ran into my friend @|decause in LA and learned that he has picked up the reins of open source at Twitter (vacant since @|caniszczyk's departure, I believe?), so this is a delightful surprise but not inexplicable. I don't think he can unlock a lot of money, but he seemed interested in talking about comped promotion.

❗️ 💡

1 + 2.

Imagine if Twitter partnered with us to cross-promote #BackTheStack #PayForOpenSource #DontBeEquifax! We've already got OSI on board (#1161). I reached out to Changelog the other day and they were skeptical, but if they find out Twitter and OSI are on board that could sway them. We could also reach out to Libraries.io. StickerMule would want in as well as a sticker sponsor.

3.

YC application announcements went out this morning, and applications are due on October 3—next Tuesday.

October is the first month of the fourth quarter of the year.

Let's aim for September 26.

Let's not. :-)

What if we make the first month of each quarter "Back the Stack / Pay for open source" month? We do a campaign every third month, starting in a week: October 1. Or every six months (à la YC :D). Or once a year. Or just once to start with. 😆

tl;dr

Can we pull together a month-long campaign to kick off next Monday, October 2? 😬 😱 😮 🙉 🚀

[chadwhitacre]

rescued the galaxy from demon lords

P.S. This part was because I lay in a field staring at the Milky Way for about three hours. :D

[chadwhitacre]

To: Remy

Dusting off @TwitterOSS, eh? Thanks for the follow, my friend. ;-)

Interesting timing ... we're getting ready to launch a #BackTheStack campaign for the month of October to raise money for open source through Gratipay. Would TwitterOSS want to be a part of this campaign as a promotional partner?

[JessaWitzel]

Very rough draft at https://medium.com/@JessaWitzel/it-is-time-to-backthestack-9b119557de61 for pre-campaign blog post.

[chadwhitacre]

slack

[chadwhitacre]

Heard back from Remy!

Do you have details you can send me (one-pager?) about the campaign and the projects it will support?

Working up a prospectus ...

Will probably also throw together a simple logo ...

[chadwhitacre]

Logo next, here is the prospectus first draft:

#BackTheStack — Promotional Partner Prospectus.pdf

[chadwhitacre]

[chadwhitacre]

Prospectus, Draft 4

[chadwhitacre]

Final: Prospectus - Promotional Partner - BackTheStack on Gratipay - Q4-2017.pdf

(Sent to Remy and OSI.)

[chadwhitacre]

On profiles (Twitter, etc.) I'm changing:

Helping companies and others pay for open source.

To:

The easiest way for your company to pay for open source.

[chadwhitacre]

I've emailed OpenSource.com asking if they'd like a story about #BackTheStack during October.

[Richbrey11]

I think it is a good idea to coordinate all social channels on one calendar. Just make sure there is something labeling each channel differently on the calendar. I.E. color or labeling of post. (*Twitter* post on investing on open source)

…

On Fri, Sep 29, 2017 at 4:03 AM, Chad Whitacre ***@***.***> wrote: We should also coordinate a HackerOne push on Tuesday. Added to the calendar <https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=anfpfipvlbhj3456ffhdq51ko0%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/New_York> ! P.S. Should we try to use one calendar to coordinate all channels? I've added FB: to the events already on there for Facebook. — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1160 (comment)>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/Ae1_Jia96DEzVKXjZdh2jk5tiiein3fvks5snKRTgaJpZM4PUrKP> .

-- Rich Breymeier Digital Marketing Guru Office: 412-212-7024 Direct: 724-681-5388 Email: [email protected] Web: www.flashpoint.agency

[chadwhitacre]

^ easier said than done.

Fair enough. Let's pick up with distribution details in #1162.

[chadwhitacre]

I think it is a good idea to coordinate all social channels on one calendar.

Awesome, plowing this into #1180.

[chadwhitacre]

I've updated the ticket description to clarify our remaining pre-launch checklist. Three big things I'm seeing:

1. The biggest blocker is the video (Make a video #1155). We are in @ChrisECJohns's capable hands on that one.
2. Second is some remaining product work, chiefly adding the ability for companies to upload a logo. This is mostly in my court but I need help with review/merge.
3. Lastly we need to finish producing some other marketing materials and linking to those from the campaign box on the homepage. This falls to @Richbrey11 @JessaWitzel and myself.

Once we're buttoned up, the actual launch will involve:

• Publishing an announcement to https://gratipay.news/ (Announce #BackTheStack on gratipay.news #1191)
• Publishing on Twitter and Facebook (Editorial calendar #1180)
• Publishing to our mailing list for the first time (Announce #BackTheStack to our mailing list #1190)

Once we're launched:

• Send press release to press list (Put together a press list #1174)
• Post an ad on Read the Docs (Post #BackTheStack ad on RtD #1192)
• One-on-one company outreach (Generate leads #1170)

[chadwhitacre]

We should run a 30 day campaign from when we start. We shouldn't feel pressured by artificial deadlines. Gratipay is always on time! :D We can change the logo to say "Q4 2017" if we need to.

[chadwhitacre]

Alright, the big three PRs are in queue:

• video: Video, etc. gratipay.com#4671
• promo logos: Collect logos for promoting companies gratipay.com#4656
• browse payments: Browse payments gratipay.com#4607

My current thinking is that we should get these deployed, and then reach out to our new mailing list and see if we can get a few companies on board. It'll look much better to launch with a little bit of traction than none at all. And if we can't find any bites on our own die-hard mailing list, then what hope have we?

As part of gratipay/gratipay.com#4607 I dropped back on the logo from "October 2017" to "Q4 17." I say we give ourselves a week or 10 days to prime the pumps with a few backers and then do the big launch.

Thoughts?

[chadwhitacre]

I'm working on landing the final three PRs and then I plan to ship a "#BackTheStack Prelaunch" campaign on MailChimp to the 385 people on our new mailing list.

[chadwhitacre]

Merged and deploying. Stubbed out campaign, fleshing out ...

[chadwhitacre]

Deployed! We are LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😍

[chadwhitacre]

slack w/ @0xibram re: email announcement

[chadwhitacre]

Sent!

http://mailchi.mp/80ffa3197445/backthestack-prelaunch-youre-in-161663

https://gratipay.com/?backthestack=yes

!m *

[chadwhitacre]

slack celebration 💃

[chadwhitacre]

First feedback from the announcement!

thanks for the mail. I had no time to watch the video now - and that makes me wonder... if I understand correctly the current landing page targets managers of larger companies. Large corporations often block YouTube, so managers may not be able to watch the video.

It would certainly help to have the details of the campaign in writing as well. Personally I have absolutely no idea what the whole campaign is about. I do not understand who exactly will get money and what benefits participating companies get. I assume all of this is explained in the video?

https://gratipay.freshdesk.com/helpdesk/tickets/10019

[chadwhitacre]

My reply:

Good point about YouTube being blocked, hadn't thought of that.

Yes, the video does explain a bit more, but not really enough. I agree we need straightforward written explanations for who exactly will get money and what benefits participating companies get. In particular, we make a "10x ROI" claim that needs to be backed up.

Best wishes and thanks for the feedback ... you're the first person to reply! :-)

[ericholscher]

Just a heads up, I think the video doesn't do the campaign any favors. The whole thing with the random scooter segments feels weird and off brand for the actual thing you're asking for ("make an investment in OSS, trust us your money wisely"). Having you back away into the darkness at the 4 second mark also feels like a horrible analogy for someone who is asking for $100k to be used wisely.

I think this needs to be a professional video, that will be used to convince your boss why giving money to OSS is important. The actual content of the video seems good, but I think the scooter gimmick is actively harmful to the messaging.

[BenJam]

sorry for late comment but:

I agree with @ericholscher the scooter/hoverboard (that's how they are known in the UK) does distract, delegitimise the gravity of the situation and does not sit well alongside of the values we're talking about here. I see what you're doing with some of the building site imagery but the message there isn't clear enough, you should literally spell it out.

There's also a lack of balance between the FUD rationale (you consider this a risk, mitigate it) and the positive rationale. Messaging here might include:

we've achieved so much with so little, image what these projects could do with a little support.

we can secure the future for these projects so they can tell you what their plans are for the next month, year or decade.

[techtonik]

I had to turn on subtitles to lookup what "insolvent" means. =)

[techtonik]

1:22 "don't have enough attention by balsam"? What?

[chadwhitacre]

Well, friends. I have some news to share. After a 100+ hour week to get us to the #BackTheStack prelaunch last Friday night, @JessWhit and I decided over the weekend that it's time for me to be done working on Gratipay. Full story at #1069 (comment), but the bottom line is that what we were able to achieve last week with #BackTheStack is too little, too late. I need to deliver a more solid income for the fam starting in January, and given where we made it to on Friday night it's too unlikely that #BackTheStack is going to deliver what I need. So I am shifting my focus to job hunting.

This is all quite fresh, and we're just starting to work through the implications for Gratipay over in #1196. Obviously, this is probably existential. At the very least, it means that the #BackTheStack campaign is off. THANK YOU all for being willing to partner with us. Sorry to pull the plug on you like this. I'll be reaching out individually in the coming days ... hopefully we're catching this early enough to avoid too much wasted effort on your part.

🙇

[techtonik]

Looking at #BackTheStack I can only say that it was not clear where would the money go and how will they be distributed. Too much stuff was happening on Slack, so I lost the track of it.

[BenJam]

I'm really quite sad to read this @whit537. It's really hard to let a dream go but it shows how strong you are to do it publicly with grace and dignity. Chapeau and thanks for all your work over the years 👏