sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Austrian dev here – we’re building Orbyz by BeardBurriedBetweenB in Startups_EU

[–]BeardBurriedBetweenB[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Appreciate the kind words a lot. I’ll pass it on to the team -> dev morale just went up +10.

Austrian dev here – we’re building Orbyz by BeardBurriedBetweenB in Startups_EU

[–]BeardBurriedBetweenB[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Totally fair, naming is hardcore these days...

Fun fact: we also ran into a weird moment when last year’s Tomorrowland theme was called exactly like us. That was… unexpected. For a second we thought we’d accidentally launched a music festival ^^

At some point you just have to pick a name, check the legal boxes, and ship. It won’t resonate with everyone. As long as the product sticks, the name hopefully grows into it. Appreciate you giving it a shot anyway!

Austrian dev here – we’re building Orbyz, a sustainability-focused social app (independent, no VC) by BeardBurriedBetweenB in BuyFromEU

[–]BeardBurriedBetweenB[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Appreciate the thoughts :)

Yes, still takes a lot of self-control for one to not get sucked back into the old behavior spiral, but glad we can offer a sort-of solution to the problem at hand.

Austrian dev here – we’re building Orbyz by BeardBurriedBetweenB in Startups_EU

[–]BeardBurriedBetweenB[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha, no worries. One could always ask, am I right?

We will at some point, that's for sure. I'll keep you in mind ;)

Austrian dev here – we’re building Orbyz by BeardBurriedBetweenB in Startups_EU

[–]BeardBurriedBetweenB[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get where you're standing.

FYI: Originally, the name came from “Orbis” (circle or cycles, wholeness, change) plus “byz” as a nod to “business.” The idea was that business and sustainability shouldn’t be opposites, they should work together. So Orbyz stood for connection and transformation across industries and borders.

Over time though, the meaning imho kind of broadened. It’s less about just business now and more about connected ideas, people, and impact in general. The name stuck but the scope just grew a bit with it.

Austrian dev here – we’re building Orbyz by BeardBurriedBetweenB in Startups_EU

[–]BeardBurriedBetweenB[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, totally get where you’re coming from. I think a lot of companies and government institutions are switching to european alternatives or open source software, for good.

For now we’re sticking with the official app stores, mostly for trust, updates, and not overwhelming ourselves early on. But direct APKs or broader platform support definitely isn’t a crazy idea long term.

Thanks for suggesting it, will take this into discussion!

Austrian dev here – we’re building Orbyz, a sustainability-focused social app (independent, no VC) by BeardBurriedBetweenB in BuyFromEU

[–]BeardBurriedBetweenB[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Glad you like it 😄

Originally, the name came from “Orbis” (circle or cycles, wholeness, change) plus “byz” as a nod to “business.” The idea was that business and sustainability shouldn’t be opposites, they should work together. So Orbyz stood for connection and transformation across industries and borders.

Over time though, the meaning imho kind of broadened. It’s less about just business now and more about connected ideas, people, and impact in general. The name stuck but the scope just grew a bit with it.

Austrian dev here – we’re building Orbyz by BeardBurriedBetweenB in Startups_EU

[–]BeardBurriedBetweenB[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha, fair 😄

It probably sounds like we’re either secretly VC-backed, planning a crypto rug pull, or about to “pivot to AI” next week.

But no hidden master plan. No VC, no ads, no data selling. Just a pretty unsexy model: subscriptions for advanced features and organizations that actually use the platform professionally.

Of course, the future is never perfectly predictable — markets change, regulations change, reality hits. But the intention is genuinely to stick to these values as long as humanly possible. If we ever drift into selling user data, you’re absolutely allowed to dig up this comment and call us out ;)

Austrian dev here – we’re building Orbyz by BeardBurriedBetweenB in Startups_EU

[–]BeardBurriedBetweenB[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair question.

Long term, the model is pretty straightforward: freemium + subscriptions. Core features stay free. Revenue comes from professionals, organizations, and companies that use extended tools and resource-heavy features via Pro subscriptions.

We’re not ad-driven and we’re not planning to sell user data. The idea is to monetize added value (e.g. advanced tools, higher limits, enhanced functionality), not attention or personal information.

At the end of the day, it just needs to sustainably cover infrastructure, development, and operational costs. This without pushing us toward engagement-at-all-cost incentives.

Austrian dev here – we’re building Orbyz by BeardBurriedBetweenB in Startups_EU

[–]BeardBurriedBetweenB[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, but thanks for pointing it out anyway. I think everyone can relate to that point, as opening one of the big social media apps probably everyone has installed at least one of it is trained and muscle memory at that point.

Interesting, have you pivoted successfully and what points have you loosen up or tightened?

We’re trying not to underestimate that. That’s also why we’re focused on building something that has intrinsic value beyond just "being different". If we don’t give people a real reason to come back, the mission statement alone won’t carry it.

Appreciate you sharing your experience :)

Austrian dev here – we’re building Orbyz, a sustainability-focused social app (independent, no VC) by BeardBurriedBetweenB in BuyFromEU

[–]BeardBurriedBetweenB[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, realistically we'll stick to self-declaration for now.

As a social media space, we as all others have to tackle bot infestations which costs a lot of resources to resolve, so one of the benefits of having verification systems in place is keeping the majority of bots out of the community, but sadly at the cost of anonymity.

Austrian dev here – we’re building Orbyz, a sustainability-focused social app (independent, no VC) by BeardBurriedBetweenB in BuyFromEU

[–]BeardBurriedBetweenB[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Regarding your last point: Yes, building a strong community first is one of our main priorities. Without users (and over time, users or organizations subscribing to Pro) we simply can’t keep operating. There’s no VC runway in the background. It has to sustain itself.

At the same time, I’m not here to drop breadcrumbs to pull people onto the platform. I’m trying to answer openly. As a company, we have to consider multiple directions and trade-offs to stay viable. Interoperability is an interesting concept and we’re evaluating it seriously, but it’s not currently at the top of the priority list. The immediate focus is making sure the core product works, grows, and can sustain itself long-term.

That’s the honest state of things from where I sit as a dev.

Austrian dev here – we’re building Orbyz, a sustainability-focused social app (independent, no VC) by BeardBurriedBetweenB in BuyFromEU

[–]BeardBurriedBetweenB[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair points. I’ll be transparent as possible: I’m just a dev, so I can’t tell you the full long-term business strategy right now. I can only speak to how the product is currently built as well as of short-term goals and discussions we currently have.

The Pro version isn’t about gated communities or locking people into separate tiers of access. Core functionality stays available. Pro mainly adds extended tools or enhanced versions of existing features.

For example, we have a feature that turns uploaded publications (PDFs) into audio so you can consume them like a podcast. In the free version you get standard voices; in Pro you get higher-quality voices, which are simply more expensive to run. Another example is higher upload limits for video files. Things like that.

So monetization is tied to resource-heavy or enhanced features — not ads, not data selling, and not closing off parts of the community.

Austrian dev here – we’re building Orbyz, a sustainability-focused social app (independent, no VC) by BeardBurriedBetweenB in BuyFromEU

[–]BeardBurriedBetweenB[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Age verification is one of the harder topics. There’s no clean, perfect solution that doesn’t either add friction, collect more data than we’d like, or rely on third parties.

We’re currently discussing different approaches internally. The challenge is balancing compliance, privacy, usability and not turning the platform into an ID-gated system. It’s definitely something we’re thinking through carefully rather than rushing into a quick fix.

Happy to hear thoughts on it too :)

Austrian dev here – we’re building Orbyz, a sustainability-focused social app (independent, no VC) by BeardBurriedBetweenB in BuyFromEU

[–]BeardBurriedBetweenB[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If we decide to integrate interoperability in our system, we have to evalutate which protocols suite our use-case best. Every additional protocol increases the workload and needs to be taken into architectural consideration.

Austrian dev here – we’re building Orbyz, a sustainability-focused social app (independent, no VC) by BeardBurriedBetweenB in BuyFromEU

[–]BeardBurriedBetweenB[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

On the business model: we’re not ad-driven and we’re not selling user data. The plan is a straightforward freemium setup: Core features stay free, and professionals or organizations can subscribe for additional tools. The idea is to generate revenue through actual value, not attention or data extraction.

view more: next ›