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/
@GlenM
Thank you for making this post!
I do hope that there would be a way to make this work where the 3rd scenario wouldn't have to be put into action.
@JaceofSpades you are welcome! Thanks for being such a strong supportive presence!
@GlenM Thank you for this. With everything we've been hearing about the need for transparency, this post is so necessary!! I also like how its worded and broken down so we can all understand, especially the part where you stated the different levels: current = we cannot grow, next level = we can grow and do better, and the ideal level which will help us get to where we want/need to be to help as many as we can. I agree that the ideal goal is just that...ideal. It's where we want to be, to continue our mission. So that is what we must continue to strive for. Once again, thank you! 
@mscoxie We've done so much as a community and have figured out so much that I'm really confident we'll get way beyond ideal, but, this is where we are now :), so we need to put our shoulder into this and solve this problem just like we've solved all the other ones before.
@GlenM I couldn't have said it better myself :)
Thank you for sharing these statistics with us publicly, they are very interesting to know and nice to see you're welcoming community input.
Just go with 'Option 3 Reduced Team Scenario' and lay people off, seriously. I know that sounds harsh but it's said in the description "We are less effective, but 7 Cups continues on without making major improvements to the site or its services going forward." This is literally the best sounding piece of news since Heather announced those 2 chatrooms would be closed. We never needed "major improvements" in the form of a new site layout, or a follow/feed feature. We never needed "services" in the form of dead empty chatrooms and a million low quality listeners. All we need are some basic rooms, mostly 1-1 and a tight knit community. Simplicity is the core of this site and always has been what's made it so great at the start. The majority of visitors to mental health sites will never stick around for the long term (years) anyway. Once most members have their problems solved, they'll not come back again. In the near 2500 chats I've taken, I can count on both hands how many of them have been repeat members. And looking at Browse Listeners, it's like there's the aftermath of a battlefield in unused accounts (seriously, y'all need to do a purge of inactive accounts).
Plus, if you are only making $5500 a month, there's no freaking way to increase that over TENFOLD bruh! Even $20,000 seems a difficult climb. Please, sometimes you gotta take a step back and focus on what's important that made 7 Cups so great to start with. Hells bells, Option 2 seems like a bloomin' nightmare and if Option 1 turns out to be an extension of Option 2, then I am just straight out the door xD
@OrunLeon, well, we agree that simplicity is important and a big part of what makes this site work :)
@GlenM vulnerability is incredibly powerful, and also incredibly brave, I realise in this post it is not just your own vulnerabilities but also the staff, as in essence we are discussing their future employment and income. I think this level of honesty was needed for the site, the commun ity can now understand our position and the initiatives that are being implemented. We have all put so much into 7cups, time spent away from loved ones is so precious and everyone here has dedicated some of that time to making this site work. I am hopeful that we can achieve the best sustainability outcomes, but whatever the future holds we will get through it. I also hope that this information and honesty helps to bring some perspective to the community. This is a hard topic to discuss, but equally for the staff it is hard to have your livlihood discussed in public, for this reason I hope everyone remains mindful and respectful with regards to posts on this topic.
@Sarah
100% with you here: "This is a hard topic to discuss, but equally for the staff it is hard to have your livlihood discussed in public, for this reason I hope everyone remains mindful and respectful with regards to posts on this topic."
Yes, please lets remember that our staff are humans too and deserve just as much compassion and respect as we would like to have ourselves. 
Than you for mentioning this!
@JaceofSpades @Sarah Excellent point, thank you!
@Sarah, Thanks Sarah! Being vulnerable is indeed a bit of a risk. In terms of sustainability, I'm very confident that we'll get there. We just started with the support system pieces and we already have several thousand dollars that are in process. We can definitely reach the ideal solution, but we've got to be aligned and together on it as a team.
@GlenM Yes! 
@SunshineCat Thanks for all the support and help!! ;)
Thank you Glen! Sharing this with the community is very brave. I am hopeful we can reach our goals as a community!
@GlenM Did you look into going non-profit if the for-profit model proves unsustainable? That model has unique sources of revenue as well as tax breaks not available for businesses. Probably not what the "startup investors" would want to hear, though.
@JoyCS Thanks! Yes I've definitely considered it and wrote a bit on it in some of the threads. I'm not ruling out any possibilities. Goal number 1 is sustainability :)
@GlenM What does sustainability mean exactly, in simple terms?
@Wonderfullyyou Sustainability means bringing in enough income to cover the costs of running the business as it currently exists. Or in other words, the money coming is the same as (or more than) the money going out each month.
@SunshineCat Thanks!
@JoyCS I have agree with that notion. I feel as though 7Cups is great at delievering an accessible service to lots of people which is awesome. But from what I have seen, not so great sustainability-wise which lead us to the crossroad we are at now. I understand that I haven't seen the behind the scenes stuff. I am just going on what I have seen.
I unforetunately vote for Option 4 - which is exploring the option of not for profit. In my time as a listener for 18 months, we have promoted ourselves as the free provider for all but what I believe to be the last 3 months which we have the support tab. I believethat the traffic that has been brought here is because of that no need to pay philosophy. Over my time here the overwhelming majority of people I have listening to do not have the means to donate money on a regular basis.
I am not saying that people can not pay for services but brings me unforetunately back to the statement of why pay for something when I can get it for free. There are people that do pay but given the situation which has brought us here today there is not enough people bringing the money in.
In summary I believe that we need to explore Option 4 - Turning non profit because
People that use and have used this service because it is free and their situation makes this their only option
People who have used this service before when they didn't pay anything being unwilling to pay
The people who have paid are not being in as much as what is needed
I will continue to support 7Cups for the difference it has made and I believe in its service delievery but I am unforetunately not feeling positive on its ability to be for profit given the situation we are in now
@SandyM
This may not be possible because of whatever terms may have accompanied the original influx of capital - I have no idea about that. But I do agree with your general idea. The fact that this is not non-profit has always been very troubling to me - it relies on a colossal amount of volunteer, unpaid labor. As much as talking about expenses and salaries in the way Glen has here arguably represents "vulnerability," the need to do so is simply a consequence of the rather peculiar business model the site has - convincing thousands of people to work for no pay in order to provide free services, and expecting some of them to pay for perks or just make donations to an enterprise that is not a non-profit. If paying for perks isn't covering expenses, there's actually little choice but to lay out the financial details. And assume people will trust what is said - there's no way people who are being asked to contribute can conduct an audit or independently verify the financial particulars.
More than the short-term "bridge to sustainability" questions, what I want to know is how this works as an ongoing enterprise assuming those hurdles are cleared. Who profits? How will people be compensated? Will much of the labor currently being donated become compensated as finances allow? If it were a non-profit, I'd worry about none of these things.
@GlenM
Glen, Ive been awaiting this post and it is everything I needed it to be and more. I now have a clear understanding of what is going on behind the scenes. Thank you so much for sharing with us all.
@Belle_ thank you! I'm really glad to hear that! I appreciate the support!
@GlenM Thank you very much for this post. I hope that people will now better understand how difficult it is to find a balance between focusing on improvements within the community and quality, and actually keeping 7 Cups functioning and alive in its essence. This post felt very emotional and honest, and I so very much appreciate that you all try so very hard to make 7 Cups sustainable. I hope that we will reach the ideal scenario,and with that even strengthen our community. Thank you so much for dedicating all your energy and heart to 7 Cups. It really shines through in your post, how much you care about 7 Cups and how strongly you believe in the mission of offering emotional support on such a large scale level. You are awesome, Glen!
@MissZ I have a world of respect for you. This means a lot to me. Thank you!
It is really challenging to balance all of these different elements. I've been hesitant to be open about how difficult it can be. Thanks for seeing that and thanks also for seeing how much I care about this community. I'm glad that came through. The next challenge will be for people to give me grace and support so that I can really focus on sustainability. If we can be aligned on that, then we'll get there. For example, I'm heading to a symposium at the University of Michigan tomorrow at 5 am. I'll be there for 2 days telling schools all about 7 Cups. Laura did that all day today at a college mental health conference in Philadelphia. Laura has been less present in the forum today and I will have to be less present moving forward because we need to reach sustainability. That doesn't mean I'm any less passionate about what we are doing.
This kind of comment and support REALLY helps me. Makes me feel like you all have my back. I'll give it all I've got and with this kind of support, I know we'll get there!
@GlenM
Thanks for sharing all the information that you have. It can be quite a puzzle to put together at times, but I trust that admin and the community will come together and we will be able to all have a role in it and figure it out.
Thanks for your hard work. Thanks for everyone's hard work.
We're going to get there :) and we're going to get there together :)
@Pat Thanks! I agree! We all have a role and it'll require a lot of mutual support and hard work, but we will get there!
