Part III: Transparency

One thing we learned through 7 Cups is that being vulnerable is powerful.

When we pretend like things are fine or that we have everything under control, we inadvertently isolate ourselves from others. We wall ourselves off, protect ourselves, and, in the end, this ends up hurting us as individuals and the people we love.

Im going to be vulnerable with you all today and ask for your help. Ive invited you to help with 7 Cups in every conceivable way, except when it comes to sustainability. Ive tried to carry that burden on my own shoulders. For better or worse, after many sleepless nights and struggles, Ive realized that it isnt good for me and it isnt good for our community.

Founders of startups normally dont talk about financial components of the company publicly. There is supposed to be an unspoken line that is not crossed. Certain things are not supposed to be shared. 7 Cups is its own unique enterprise. Many of the rules that apply to ‘business as usual do not apply to 7 Cups. We set it up that way on purpose. We wanted it to be different. We designed it to be different from the very beginning. This post is the logical extension of the way that we have already been operating.

I love what we have built here at 7 Cups and want this to continue to be a free emotional support site available to all as long as possible.

In order to do that, 7 Cups has to find a way to earn enough income to pay for its operating expenses. For the past two and a half years, 7 Cups has relied on startup investors to build the infrastructure into what it is today. At the current rate of expenses with no additional income, that investor funding will last through April 2017. If the income cant be increased beyond what it is now, then operating costs will need to be reduced accordingly. Currently, the operating costs pay for servers to host the site and below-market salaries for the the community managers and our product team (7 Cups has a staff of just 9 people) .Thats it. I dont pay myself from 7 Cups. All of the other roles on the site are filled by unpaid volunteers, including Listeners, Mentors, and Ambassadors.

We started sustainability efforts three months ago. As we stated then, we need $65,000 / month to cover expenses with the size of the team we currently have. In February, we had $5,500 in revenue. Thats barely enough to cover the server expenses for the site for a month, let alone the staff. Were not in panic mode, because we still have the investor funding in the short-term, but we need to be responsible as an organization and work very hard to address this in the coming months.

Ultimately, our community is the thing I care most about on 7 Cups. It is remarkable, therapeutic, and powerful. Ive said before that it is magical. It is something different from anything else that Ive ever encountered.

At our current rate of progress towards sustainability, we will be able to keep a small team on that would enable 7 Cups to continue to make progress towards reaching our mission. However, we would not be able to continue with all of the staff that we have now. We would have to lay people off. This is painful and sad to consider, but it is also a potential reality. We will work very hard to overcome this challenge in the next couple of months. If we can, then that will be wonderful. If we cannot, then it is a problem that we will have to face and solve directly. Here are the potential ways that our sustainability could unfold:

1. Ideal Scenario - we make more progress on revenue, keep the team intact, add more people to help, and make faster progress towards our goals.

--If we earn more than $65K+ / month in income, or more than $780K+ / year

2. Positive Scenario - we make more progress on revenue, keep the team intact, and continue mostly how things are now with a prioritized list of site and service improvements.

--This would require a revenue of $65K / month, or $780K / year

3. Reduced Team Scenario - we continue with similar revenue levels and have to lay off people from our team. We are less effective, but 7 Cups continues on without making major improvements to the site or its services going forward.

--This would require a revenue of at least $20K / month, or $240K / year

As you all can see, we have a ways to go and I do have a plan to get us there! Ive done this before and I know how to do it again.

Ive been working pretty hard to get to the positive scenario. There are several ways that we can increase our revenue to the site to meet the positive scenario that I have outlined above. The product team is working on the therapist directory and the school, business, non-profit support systems. We have made some significant progress there and we have evidence that this could be a large contributor toward getting us to our sustainability goals. There is still a lot that needs to come together, but I have been working really hard to get us there.

Between the upgrades/backing, therapists directory, and the school, business, non-profit support systems, I believe that we can bring in enough additional revenue to sustain and continue to improve the free support system that we have built here at 7 Cups.

In order to sustain the 7 Cups community, I need your help!

Unfortunately, for a certain amount of time, this is going to take a lot of hard work from me and the Product Team. It has already meant a lot of long hours and sleepless nights. Im going to need some time and space and some extra understanding and compassion to work toward the goal of becoming sustainable in the ways that I have outlined above.

As much as you can, please spread the word and talk to your school or workplace and tell them the ways in which 7 Cups has helped you and how you believe it could help others around you to find the emotional support that they need.

I need you to continue to believe that we as a community can do this. We have overcome many challenges together in the past and I believe that we can overcome this challenge to become sustainable, too. This is a time, though, where we need to stand together in order for our community to continue to thrive. Im still willing to hear concerns and feedback, but I need your support in bringing these things to light in a constructive way so we can address the concerns and move forward. While you certainly don't have to do this, I would encourage you to check with a mentor or ambassador prior to bringing concerns to admin to see if we are already aware of the concerns and working on a solution (even if the solution is slow). I will still hear you either way, but this would help.

I promise that I hear all that you have been saying and I respect the courage that it takes to bring up these issues. I have a lot of respect for the level of trust that we have built in the community for people to feel that they can be open and express their concerns. One of the impacts of focusing on sustainability is that the Product team and I have been hard at work on that and less available for the community as a whole right now. Im doing that for the continued success and longevity of our community. I hope that you can understand why that is so important to me and I hope that it is also important to all of you.

In order to move forward with sustainability, I need your support and compassion. I think we need to be aligned - all rowing together - to meet or exceed the positive sustainability scenario so that we can continue to do great things in this community going forward. I have shared the things that keep me up at night with you in this post in an effort to be honest and transparent. I need your support in continuing to grow and improve the mission of 7 Cups: to be the largest free emotional support system in the world. Are you with me?

For further reading:

Making 7 Cups Sustainable - https://www.7cups.com/forum/GlensNook_84/Community_547/Making7CupsSustainable_29951/1/

Back 7 Cups: Part I of Making 7 Cups Sustainable - https://www.7cups.com/forum/GlensNook_84/Community_547/Back7CupsPartIofMaking7CupsSustainable_31025/1/

Sustainability Update - https://www.7cups.com/forum/ListenersOnlyForums_38/GlensThoughts_143/SustainabilityUpdate_32682/