I gotcha. I'll write one that I often think about.
Re grants: I believe one of the takes that is not talked about enough, besides a few individuals that non stop complain about grants, though they have a couple good points, but fail to communicate them in a constructive manner, is that grants essentially allow devs to be allowed to fail and continue to get funding.
This has both positive and negative impacts.
Positive: it's going to take a lot to failures and iterations before being successful. That is part of the process and there's nothing wrong with failure. It's how we learn and grow.
Negatives: the incentive to succeed is gone or misaligned, because you're getting paid no matter what. It doesn't matter if you spend a year building a failing app and no one uses it, you still go paid.
I've been a small business owner. If I didn't succeed, my family wouldn't have food or a place to live. Those were my incentives to succeed. Grants take some of that out of the equation.
I am indirectly paid with grant money.
For me personally, I took a risk and quit a job of 16 years where I could have worked for another 14 and retired. I don't want to go back to that life. I also have a family. These two points are what drive me to succeed. If I don't succeed, if we don't succeed, then the money goes away and I have to go back to the fiat mines. I can't do what I love to do. I can't continue to pursue my passion.
I think grant funding is needed. I think it's a better path forward than VC money. I think we are all so absolutely blessed and lucky to be at the receiving end of Jack's philanthropy and for this I will be forever grateful.
But I also feel we need to collectively step the fuck up. It's time.
And at Soapbox, we are full steam ahead and not slowing down. We bust our ass every single day. If something doesn't work, we move on to the next app or product. We iterate fast and often, trying to break out of our bubble.
Derek Ross
npub18a…tp424
2026-05-25 17:40:43 UTC
in reply to nevent1q…k6jc
Author Public Key
npub18ams6ewn5aj2n3wt2qawzglx9mr4nzksxhvrdc4gzrecw7n5tvjqctp424Published at
2026-05-25 17:40:43 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "I gotcha. I'll write one that I often think about. \n\nRe grants: I believe one of the takes that is not talked about enough, besides a few individuals that non stop complain about grants, though they have a couple good points, but fail to communicate them in a constructive manner, is that grants essentially allow devs to be allowed to fail and continue to get funding. \n\nThis has both positive and negative impacts. \n\nPositive: it's going to take a lot to failures and iterations before being successful. That is part of the process and there's nothing wrong with failure. It's how we learn and grow.\n\nNegatives: the incentive to succeed is gone or misaligned, because you're getting paid no matter what. It doesn't matter if you spend a year building a failing app and no one uses it, you still go paid. \n\nI've been a small business owner. If I didn't succeed, my family wouldn't have food or a place to live. Those were my incentives to succeed. Grants take some of that out of the equation.\n\nI am indirectly paid with grant money.\n\nFor me personally, I took a risk and quit a job of 16 years where I could have worked for another 14 and retired. I don't want to go back to that life. I also have a family. These two points are what drive me to succeed. If I don't succeed, if we don't succeed, then the money goes away and I have to go back to the fiat mines. I can't do what I love to do. I can't continue to pursue my passion.\n\nI think grant funding is needed. I think it's a better path forward than VC money. I think we are all so absolutely blessed and lucky to be at the receiving end of Jack's philanthropy and for this I will be forever grateful.\n\nBut I also feel we need to collectively step the fuck up. It's time.\n\nAnd at Soapbox, we are full steam ahead and not slowing down. We bust our ass every single day. If something doesn't work, we move on to the next app or product. We iterate fast and often, trying to break out of our bubble.",
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