Thread by @TheAshPhillips, Launch day Today, what was previously known as @joinyena becomes @wearedffrnt and [...]

Launch day

Today, what was previously known as @joinyena becomes @wearedffrnt and represents a whole new phase for the business

A thread

For a while, Yena been doing good things but aside from those already in the community (and even some members too) no one really understood what it was, or what it did.

This rebrand represents a chance to have a:

Clearer product

Better experience

Transparent story

Dffrnt is our chance to be just that – different. With the rise of communities over the decade, we've had everything from copycat companies, to trolls (stories I'll tell one day), to now hundreds of other communities to compete with.

Here's how I hope we'll be better...

"Community by default

benefits as our product

"

When people start out - creators, rebels, founders, freelancers - the vast majority are lacking support, guidance, introductions. They're left to 'the system' which is frankly pretty poor at best.

Government support is outdated and private support is amazing but either exclusive or expensive (YC, On Deck, etc).

Not everyone can access this and that's not ok

We need to do better as a species to level the playing field. Dffrnt's mission is to do just that

So, via an affordable subscription – and a freemium model

which I'm working on right now – my aim is democratise entrepreneurship and ensure anyone, anywhere has the chance to build the thing they wish to see in the world, with the best chance of success along the way

In time, this will develop into something Dffrnt

and I hope to continue to #buildinpublic so that you can see the journey to that.

Thanks to @PaulYacoubian for the inspo to do this!

For now, I simply just want to provide the best benefits & community for creators around.

Right now we're using @CircleApp to power our community and have a # of benefits in our subscription, including:

Domain, hosting, website + emails from @BaseKit

Zero fees for $15k processed with @atlas

...and many more

Right now we're using @CircleApp to power our community and have a # of benefits in our subscription, including: Domain, hosting, website + emails from @BaseKit Zero fees for $15k processed with @atlas ...and many more

Oh and we're now planting a tree, every month, for every paying member powered by @Ecologi_hq

Right now, that's ~215 trees a month

Hopefully, before long, we'll be planting what is essentially a forest, every month in order to help the planet our creators live & work on

Oh and we're now planting a tree, every month, for every paying member powered by @Ecologi_hq Right now, that's ~215 trees a month Hopefully, before long, we'll be planting what is essentially a forest, every month in order to help the planet our creators live & work on

I'll share more metrics over time. Dffrnt's model has essentially restarted so now back at ~£2.75k MRR the aim is to grow that by 3x by year-end

(the estimate is because payments include legacy systems + projects which I don't factor into dashboards just yet)

I also hope to continue vlogging the journey so you can see behind the curtain of how a scrappy startup becomes something, hopefully less scrappy, over time. I will also be adding more content with awesome founders to educate & inspire members inside the community too