Opportunity to create a forum?

[Manthe]

Hello fellow fastlaners.

I have come across a possible opportunity, and would love some feedback on my 4 questions.

The Opportunity
In the end of last year, a big economy/trading forum with about 100,000 users, suddenly was taken down without warning.

The owner of the forum said, that they will be back in the spring of 2022 but still nothing...

The promised new forum was also told to have electronic ID verification to be able to register, but I don't think people would like to be tracked with their real identity when it comes to economic/trading forums.

I have a friend that wants to start a new forum and market it to the previous members, so this is his idea.

I can help him with setting up and market the new forum, since I am very tech savvy.

My friend is also connected to an investor, that is VERY interested on partnering in this idea.

We will all share the profits from the forum equally (the plan right now anyway)

The plan is to have forum with a free version with ads (just like this forum), but also other kind of paid memberships without the ads.

We do know how to reach the old members so marketing will be quite easy.

Question 1
Does this sound like a good idea?

Question 2
What about the investor! Should we let him in on the deal?

I feel that setting up this forum will not be that expensive that we need an investor, but I am unsure of my time spent on the project, so maybe he can pay me salary during the implementation, but the role of the investor does not provide any real value to the project (if you ask me), he just wants a piece of the pie.

Question 3
What forum platform is the best to use?

I want to have a forum that we own and I don't want to be dependent on policies from a 3rd party. We will set our own policies.

Question 4
Is there something I am not thinking about?

I do think about these things:
Scaling, licensing, hosting, marketing costs, customer support, keeping the forum tidy, and blocking people if needed (human resource).

Thanks in advance

Cheers Måns

 

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[Andy Black]

Hello fellow fastlaners.

I have come across a possible opportunity, and would love some feedback on my 4 questions.

The Opportunity
In the end of last year, a big economy/trading forum with about 100,000 users, suddenly was taken down without warning.

The owner of the forum said, that they will be back in the spring of 2022 but still nothing...

The promised new forum was also told to have electronic ID verification to be able to register, but I don't think people would like to be tracked with their real identity when it comes to economic/trading forums.

I have a friend that wants to start a new forum and market it to the previous members, so this is his idea.

I can help him with setting up and market the new forum, since I am very tech savvy.

My friend is also connected to an investor, that is VERY interested on partnering in this idea.

We will all share the profits from the forum equally (the plan right now anyway)

The plan is to have forum with a free version with ads (just like this forum), but also other kind of paid memberships without the ads.

We do know how to reach the old members so marketing will be quite easy.

Question 1
Does this sound like a good idea?

Question 2
What about the investor! Should we let him in on the deal?

I feel that setting up this forum will not be that expensive that we need an investor, but I am unsure of my time spent on the project, so maybe he can pay me salary during the implementation, but the role of the investor does not provide any real value to the project (if you ask me), he just wants a piece of the pie.

Question 3
What forum platform is the best to use?

I want to have a forum that we own and I don't want to be dependent on policies from a 3rd party. We will set our own policies.

Question 4
Is there something I am not thinking about?

I do think about these things:
Scaling, licensing, hosting, marketing costs, customer support, keeping the forum tidy, and blocking people if needed (human resource).

Thanks in advance

Cheers Måns

A while back @MJ DeMarco mentioned a couple of solutions he’d have preferred to use than Xenforo (which this forum is built on). One is discourse I think. I can’t remember the other and I don’t know what his current recommendations would be.

(I also think MJ mentioned he’d not recommend creating a forum, but again, I don’t know what his current recommendations would be.)

Will your intended forum mostly be for community? Will it be threads like this forum, or more messagey with nested replies like Discord, Slack, and Circle(.)so?

Will the forum also contain libraries of lessons and other resources?

I’m curious if you’d be putting anyones nose out of joint by contacting previous members. If not, then can you contact them now and see if you can get them signed up to an email list at least, so you can continue to communicate and build a relationship with them?

Maybe a paid email newsletter is all that’s needed, or is a good first revenue generating MVP?

The only other two members I know with communities are @Fox and @Lex DeVille. Maybe they have more insights.

I’m curious what other forum members manage communities. Maybe we can create a master thread listing all the forum/community progress threads?

 

[Manthe]

A while back @MJ DeMarco mentioned a couple of solutions he’d have preferred to use than Xenforo (which this forum is built on). One is discourse I think. I can’t remember the other and I don’t know what his current recommendations would be.

(I also think MJ mentioned he’d not recommend creating a forum, but again, I don’t know what his current recommendations would be.)

Will your intended forum mostly be for community? Will it be threads like this forum, or more messagey with nested replies like Discord, Slack, and Circle(.)so?

Will the forum also contain libraries of lessons and other resources?

I’m curious if you’d be putting anyones nose out of joint by contacting previous members. If not, then can you contact them now and see if you can get them signed up to an email list at least, so you can continue to communicate and build a relationship with them?

Maybe a paid email newsletter is all that’s needed, or is a good first revenue generating MVP?

The only other two members I know with communities are @Fox and @Lex DeVille. Maybe they have more insights.

I’m curious what other forum members manage communities. Maybe we can create a master thread listing all the forum/community progress threads?

THX for the reply @Andy Black

My idea is for sure to create a form on a web page where previous members can signup in advance, before the forum is actually built. Also to confirm the interest and determine if we should even build the forum.

It will be a forum for traders talking about stocks and funds, and all that comes around that, so it will probably a lot of threads just like this forum.

/M

 

[Andy Black]

My idea is for sure to create a form on a web page where previous members can signup in advance, before the forum is actually built. Also to confirm the interest and determine if we should even build the forum.

Cool. When are you doing this?

You may find this useful:

• Just start already

 

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[Move the chains]

Is there something I am not thinking about?

Have a plan for how to moderate the forum and a clear policy on what's not acceptable. Depending on how hot the topic gets, things can quickly escalate. Sadly, it seems as though some people struggle to disagree without it getting personal.

 

[Andy Black]

Find moderators from within the forum. They’ll stand out as being active, regular, and folks who moderate rather than fan the flames.

 

[Manthe]

Cool. When are you doing this?

You may find this useful:

• Just start already

Just waiting for my friend to say GO, but I also want to confront the "investor" about his role.

I don't like people to "get in on it" just because they like the idea, but have no role in the project...

 

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[Move the chains]

Find moderators from within the forum. They’ll stand out as being active, regular, and folks who moderate rather than fan the flames.

Good point. More likely to find someone who's on the same page as far as purpose of the forum too.