Charles Broskoski, founder of Are.na, discusses the creation and evolution of the platform, growth methodology, visual content, crypto, and community. Topics include crowdfunding, user numbers, collaboration, and the importance of curiosity in shaping the future.
Are.na is a platform designed to help users create their own visual space on the internet, focusing on quality and refinement over speed and scale.
Arena successfully raised $270,000 through a crowdfunding campaign, demonstrating the support and enthusiasm of its community.
Deep dives
Overview of Arena and its Platform
Arena is a platform that allows users to organize and connect ideas, build knowledge, and create their own visual space on the internet. It serves as a personal tool where users can collect and organize various types of information such as images, text, links, and files. These collections can be organized into channels, which act as folders. Arena also has a social component where users can connect and collaborate with others, creating an organic network of information. With a focus on quality over speed or scale, Arena has been refining its platform for over 10 years.
The Origins and Inception of Arena
Arena was born out of the founder's background in art and their involvement in the online artistic community. The idea stemmed from the desire to create an alternative to social bookmarking platforms like Delicious, where users could curate and share their research and creative process. After funding fell through, the original founders took over the project and gradually built a small but enthusiastic community around Arena. The platform evolved over time to cater to a specific kind of user, those who are self-directed, curious, and open-minded.
Crowdfunding and Long-Term Sustainability
To sustain and grow Arena, the team explored crowdfunding as a means of support. Despite initial fears, they launched a crowdfunding campaign on the Republic platform, expecting to raise around $100,000. However, to their surprise, they successfully raised $270,000, largely from their supportive community. This funding allowed them to expand their team temporarily and invest more in development. Arena aims to continue providing value to its community by exploring alternative funding models and ensuring a cooperative and sustainable long-term structure.
The Role of Brands and the Future of Community
In terms of working with brands, Arena prioritizes the interests and needs of its users. Collaborations and partnerships are approached with a focus on mutual benefits and tangible contributions to the community. They have experimented with residency programs and are selective about which collaborations align with the community's interests. As for the future, Arena is engaged in navigating the challenges of defining a sustainable corporate structure. They also aim to enhance the platform's design to provide users with a broader perspective and illuminate contextual connections between pieces of information.
For this episode we chat with Charles Broskoski, founder of Are.na, a platform designed to help you create your own visual space on the internet. Launched over 10 years ago, it certainly follows our good growth methodology of quality over speed or scale. Other than some nostalgic dot com tangents, we discuss all things visual, crypto and community. This was recorded over Zoom, so apologies for the audio quality.
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