One of the things I tend to do when working on something for quite some time is to not talk about it until I’m pretty much done before sharing. This is me attempting to buck that trend.
TL;DR: I’m building a subscription-based, short-form video platform. Think Patreon + TikTok with a cap on video length.
Terminology
(You smelt metal to make nickel so I went with a fire motif)
I feel gross about using Google products and that obviously includes YouTube. That’s where everyone is so I have no choice but to use it (I don't have to login though, they'll create shadow profiles for you anyway). Vimeo isn’t for the average person, they’ve pivoted to enterprise. Dailymotion is somehow alive but it hasn’t seen real usage since 2012 or whenever. So what’s left? Unknown clip sites that pop up as fast as they disappear? No thanks.
Tech companies in general feel gross to use because of their (seemingly) unwavering allegiance to white supremacy and bigotry. The tech CEOs lack morals, structure, backbone...it’s weird. Hella weird behavior.
I’m not a fan of complaining about something when I have the skills to do something about it, even if it’s small.
Why would you want to pay for the privilege to use a video platform that caps videos at 5 minutes? What are the use cases?
Well, constraint breeds creativity and innovation. Remember Vine? The immensely popular platform where videos were 7 seconds? Incredible content arose from that limitation but unfortunately, the platform owners chose greed over paying the creators that made them popular.
The creator/platform payment split with NICKEL? 85/15.
All I’m providing is the infrastructure; a platform is nothing without creators. I’m betting on the fact that creators will happily add NICKEL to their SEO toolkit as the roadmap progresses.
Video diaries, music videos/playlists, portfolio reels, cooking tutorials, gaming highlights (why I created NICKEL in the first place), focused courses, short films, ELI5 content, sport highlights, standup bits, and more.
Haven’t you noticed that content creators tend to have longer and longer videos these days? The meat of the content is maybe a few minutes worth of content but it’s padding with filler on both ends. Have you heard that, "the algorithm" demands it? Let’s be quite clear here: "the algorithm" isn’t some opaque thing these platforms have no insight into. They are, quite literally, dictating what their algorithms will surface (pretending otherwise is dodging accountability).
That extra padding means more spots to insert ads and content creators are the vehicle to push them (to be clear, I’m not against sponsored ads because those take actual effort to be personable).
If you’re a Creator or aspiring to be one, let me know what you need in a platform (here’s my profile, if you want to see how the UI is shaping up). If you know a Creator, let them know about NICKEL! By signing up for the mailing list, you’re also on the waitlist (which makes you eligible for future perks).
Find us on Bluesky and LinkedIn. Talk soon!
— Paul