"Although I was invested in this project, I definitely wasn't "flirty sex chat with some random scammer" levels of invested. The thought also dawned on me that part of their playbook could even involve "Aidana" calling for phone sex.
Either would be crossing lines that I didn't want to cross, meaning that I'd stumbled upon an unexpected 4th rule of engagement: don't talk dirty with scammers."
Without venture capital? Yes. Without $20? Probably not. $20 subscription doesn't need to cover costs of most active user. It needs to cover the cost of the average user (assuming you don't want to put any cash into it yourself...but if that's the case, maybe you don't believe in this idea enough?).
Exactly, that's how business works. You calculate the cost it will take to deploy in the new region, and tell them, in order for your business to move there, instead of using AWS or GCP or any competitor, we need 3-years at this rate. And they will do it.
The Guns of John Moses Browning. One of those where you didn't realize how someone you likely don't know much about has impacted every human on the planet.
I've felt the exact same way after working (consulting) for mostly very large companies. I'd love to do a startup at some point in my career and sometime I have FOMO on that experience. The grass is always greener.