Invest in Minds

The problem we're solving

Free and easy exchange of information and expression has catapulted global culture forward since the advent of social media. But this freeing power of the Internet has gradually been corrupted by interests that seek to benefit themselves at the expense of global discourse, leaving us with…

• Rampant censorship and algorithmic bias
• Excessive centralization of power
• Invasive surveillance techniques
• Severe lack of transparency
• Flawed economic models
• Polarizing, addicting and toxic online behavior

Important ideas are suppressed. Social media is dominated by walled gardens of bickering, polarized discourse designed to maximize value for elite stakeholders, not the community.

Put control in your hands and align incentives for better discourse and a better future

We didn’t get here because Facebook, Twitter, etc. are bad people, but they discovered an explosive pattern with bad incentives and without the checks and balances to correct course.

What Minds does differently:

• 100% open-source software for maximum accountability
• Protect your privacy at all costs, no short-cuts
• Decentralized infrastructure to give you ownership of your identity
• Democratic moderation and jury systems to prevent centralized abuse
• Maximum creator monetization, community ownership and incentive alignment

Community control

From the start, Minds is built for community control. We launched our first mobile app in 2015, and promptly began building open source software that anyone can modify or fork.

We don’t thumb the scales of your timeline, and leave control up to you. Where algorithms can help, all code is open source and free to review by the community, ensuring transparency community alignment.

Our content policy is informed by the United States’ First Amendment protecting freedom of speech. We funded research on the effects of censorship in social media to understand how the will to restrict supposedly dangerous discourse actually increases radicalization online, rather than solves for it.

And where moderation questions become the most sticky -- things are rarely black and white -- we call upon the Minds community jury to adjudicate the validity of moderation appeals.

Align incentives

Minds launched the most successful (at the time) Wefunder crowdfund in 2017, and we’re back so that even more of the company can be owned by the community. Our revenue model is designed to reward members of the community for adding value to the network, with between 85% to 100% of net revenues going back to creators, affiliates, and ordinary community members.

• Supermind enables creators and fans to collaborate via public, paid Q&As.
• Boost is our surveillance-free ad platform that rewards everyone involved, from advertisers, sellers, and creators who generate inventory with their engaging content.
• Minds+ subscriptions give creators more reach and engagement, access to premium content, and more ways to earn.

A passionate community of free-thinkers

Minds would be nothing without its community. While you can find people of all different backgrounds, talents, interests and politics on Minds, everyone has one thing in common: an extreme passion for freedom, transparency and dialogue.

In 2019, Minds partnered with advisor Daryl Davis to help direct its content moderation and deradicalization strategy. Daryl is famously known for being an African-American man who has single-handedly convinced over 200 members of the KKK to turn in their robes. His secret? Dialogue. With Daryl's help, Minds released a groundbreaking research paper titled "The Censorship Effect" that provides evidence of how censorship on social media is actually increasing polarization and violence in our world. One of the main missions for Minds is to prove that we need more speech to reduce polarization and violence, not less.

Over the years, many prominent figures across the cultural spectrum have joined and advocated for Minds, including Daryl Davis, Tim Pool, Joe Rogan, Cornel West, Coleman Hughes, Tulsi Gabbard, Seth Dillon, Carl Benjamin, Douglas Rushkoff, Dave Cullen, ZUBY, Abby Martin, Lee Camp, Destiny, Bryan Callen and many others.

A brief history of Minds

• 2011: Bill Ottman realizes the need for open source social media, and Minds is born
• 2015: The first Minds app goes live and quickly grows to over 1M+ members
• 2017: Minds raises $1M from 1,500+ community members in record-setting Reg CF on Wefunder
• 2019: Minds raises $6M Series A from Medici Ventures, the blockchain venture arm of Overstock
• 2020: Minds releases fully encrypted chat using decentralized Matrix protocol
• 2021: Minds raises $10M Series B from FUTO, an investment group for tech freedom
• 2022: Minds releases portable identity solution using decentralized Nostr protocol

Here's what's next

We spent the last year investing in our economics to ensure incentives are aligned for healthy, cooperative growth. Now we’re building to grow the community from the bottom up.

Over the past year, we've launched or overhauled three core monetization products that form the backbone of the Minds economy. As a result, we've aggressively grown our revenue per active user, a dollar value on every node we add to the network. And because our monetization model is built to reward the members who contribute, the entire community benefits from Minds growth.

The social media wars on raging right now and Minds is reinforcing our commitment to being a community-first network by opening up this round. Our success is our creator's success and our revenue model proves this. With the launch of our new creator partner program, sovereign identity on Nostr and robust social media apps across web and mobile we are growing to become the top social media app for independent creators.

FAQ

Do I have to be an accredited investor to invest?

No. Wefunder allows you to invest without being an accredited investor. All you have to do is sign up and invest.

What is the minimum amount I can invest?

$100.

What's the maximum I am legally allowed to invest?

Through Regulation Crowdfunding everyone can invest at least $2,200. How much you're able to invest above that depends on your net income and net worth. You can see how much you're allowed to invest by entering those two numbers under "Investor Limits" here (once you've created and logged in to a Wefunder account).

While you may be legally able to invest more, your investment may be lowered depending on the interest we receive in this round.

Am I guaranteed to get the amount that I signed up for?

No. If we are oversubscribed, we may not be able to accept all investments and may reduce individual investments - in which case you’ll be refunded for the difference. 

Can I invest if I don’t live in the United States?

With a few exceptions, investments can be accepted from international investors as long as you represent that you are complying with the law in your country. 

The only exceptions are the Canadian provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and Alberta which have requested that Wefunder bar their residents from investing on Wefunder’s platform, as well as certain sanctioned countries.

For accredited investors from one of those Canadian provinces, we’re looking into creating an opportunity to invest. You can email [email protected] to express your interest.

What fees do investors pay?

For payments made by bank ACH, wires, or checks, Wefunder charges investors a transaction fee of 2%, with a minimum of $8 and a max of $100. For credit cards, Apple Pay, or Google Pay, Wefunder charges a 5% fee, with a minimum of $8 and no maximum.

Investors can get their first investment fee-free by completing the welcome sequence when creating their account (www.wefunder.com/welcome) and using their ACH bank account (US banks only) or a wire. Just so you know, this only applies to first investments.

Fees are one-time and are not reoccurring.

How will I make a return on my investment, and when?

Under the terms of our Series B, our (pre-money) valuation is $60M. If we have a successful exit in the future (like an IPO, merger, or acquisition) for more than that amount, you’ll see a return on your investment. 

Where can I ask a question?

You can ask any questions you have in the “Ask A Question” section of this page or email [email protected]