There are two questions you need to answer when building something new: who is this for, and where is the money going to come from? Some longer thoughts on my exchange with @mosh.bsky.social about the ATproto ecosystem, and its needing a business focus. numergent.com/2026-08/Project-Product-Start…
Project vs. Product, Startup vs. Business
numergent.comAug 11, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Ideas on a Financially Sustainable Atproto | Alex | Offprint
Explore a new funding model for Atproto that moves beyond grants and VC. Discover how StratosFund enables sustainable, community-driven open-source development.
Feature / Product / Business: A Framework for Sustainable ATProto Projects | ATmosphereConf VODs
The ATProto community built a ton of great features and products over the past year! For our next trick, let's mature them into products and businesses. In this talk, you'll get a practical framework for understanding whether what you're building should be a feature, product, or business, plus concrete funding models at each layer to keep your work going and growing. (More in this thread: https://bsky.app/profile/mosh.bsky.social/post/3mckiat2ne22q)
Project vs. Product, Startup vs. Business
A couple of weeks ago I dropped into a thread by Mosh Lee, about how ATproto has too many projects and too few businesses. Yes! A few months ago I volunteered to help teams with ops or strategy, and k
Research Project for ATProto Ecosystem Brand and User Experience Needs
Hello atproto builders — I’m a long time lurker and first time forum poster. I met some of you at Atmosphere conf in March, but for the most part have been thinking and talking about how I might get involved and support what’s happening here, rather than diving in. It’s been deeply heartening over the last couple years to see this community emerge and all the work so many of you have put in to make Atmosphere conf and all the other great atproto meetups and conferences—and community contribution...
Interesting conversation exploring the future of atproto sustainability!
JP
I want people to be comfortable paying for an atproto account (ie. space on a PDS) It’s the bedrock of everything we’re building; if it’s not funded it’ll get squeezed in ways that are bad for users (hi Gmail) We should normalise having (very cheap) paid-tier PDS accounts on the services we build
For anyone building new apps and tools on ATproto that are … 🌐 on the Open Web 🌱 past the prototype stage ✨ reimagining the social internet New_ Public, @publicspaces.net and @waag.org are investing up to €10,000 in alternatives to Big Tech Learn more, share, or apply by May 1st newpublic.org/OSA
Open Social Awards | New_ Public
newpublic.orgMore organizations recognizing the value, more different communities outside the nuclear atproto dev community getting interested and BUILDING. Coalitions are growing. Big landmarks are being crossed like permissioned data and independent infrastructure. Folks are getting hired. We got this.
I wonder if having some kind of "atproto Foundation" would help with fundraising for the broader atmosphere? Currently there is no easy way to invest in the atmosphere so would-be funders default to bsky cc @ecosystemaction.com
Erin Kissane
Knight Foundation's kind of an exception here, tbh, and has a specific interest that's different from the VCs—and also a specific connection into the protocol. I'd love to see them send money to a slew of atmosphere projects and I wouldn't be super surprised if they did.
I wonder if having some kind of "atproto Foundation" would help with fundraising for the broader atmosphere? Currently there is no easy way to invest in the atmosphere so would-be funders default to bsky cc @ecosystemaction.com
Erin Kissane
Knight Foundation's kind of an exception here, tbh, and has a specific interest that's different from the VCs—and also a specific connection into the protocol. I'd love to see them send money to a slew of atmosphere projects and I wouldn't be super surprised if they did.
ANNOUNCEMENT: I’ve been working on putting together something between a retreat and a hackathon for #atproto builders for the past several weeks. I’ve been in discussion with potential funders and some funding has become available to make this a reality. now, I need your help!! KEEP READING 👇🏽
Some more ideas about how I think to build an atproto app for artists from the needs I see in my community, and how I envision to grow this into a longer term project. I am curious about your feedback and who is interested to participate.
Artist app diary (2): how to stay sustainable with community building and financial funding
hilkeu.leaflet.pubHey atproto builders, what if we got together to talk about the funding environment and how we sustainably grow our products and orgs? If you're interested in a meeting, add your info here! (context cont'd ⬇️)
Airtable | Everyone's app platform
airtable.comAT:// public infrastructure
the projects people are running that keep atprotocol going Only add a link to the project with a way to fund it
streamplace.network
pub search
plc.wafflehouse.dev
eu.plc.wtf
plc.wtf
Firehose Directory | ATProto Relay Index
