Post

Adding some context to this: Rascal's membership peaked in January this year at around 2500 subscribers. This was due to our 1$ sale in December where around 300 people signed up. But ever since then, it's been a steady decline... (1/x) bsky.app/profile/rasc...

We've lost around 250 subscriptions in the last 6-7 months — that's around 10% of our total size, which is a lot. It also *feels* like a lot, sitting around and watching that line going down day after day. In 2025, we were talking about raises and in 2026, we were talking about pay cuts. (2/x)

We haven't talked really ever talked about this because it seemed like a bad idea, both in a professional (feelings are unprofessional) and a personal sense (feelings are hard). We wanted it to be about the work! But the work and the subscriber number started to be completely disconnected. (3/x)

The work could be better. We're very clear on that! But better is a partially a function of time and resources, which we didn't have. That's really what this is about: can we reverse the doom spiral? can we inject some more resources into the team and chase "better"? (4/x)

The easiest way to help is to become a member. If you're already a member, you can buy a gift subscription for someone you know or give us a tip through the tip jar for any amount. www.rascal.news/state-of-the... (5/5)

Since you opened this door, let me ask a, maybe, uncomfortable question here. You tried to make a business out of this, right? Begging people to become members might help in the short term, but I'd like to understand, if you can explain it, why you think this is not working. 1/

Maybe it will lead to a difficult answer to accept, but at the end of the day, if people are not willing to pay for what you do, begging them to become your clients doesn't make a lot of sense professionally, imho. What is missing in your product? Why you think you don't have a market?

And if you think the issue is just that quality should be higher... I ak afraid you either run a crowdfunding campaign and see if you can convince enough people to believe in you or you need to find funds to inject in your business, risk and see if it pays you back...

I’m a subscriber. I don’t see this is begging I see this is reminding sometimes people forget sometimes people don’t realize I like what they produce, and I want them to produce more of it so knowing the situation they’re in is useful I can now make an informed decision.