Here's Why A Startup Founder Lets People Steal From Him And Doesn't Get Angry About It
Kaplan is best known for creating Fucked Company in the early 2000s. But he also runs a website, DistroKid, that helps musicians get their songs on iTunes, Spotify and other outlets. Musicians are supposed to pay $19.99 for an annual account but they can get a free account if they refer five friends to the site.
Kaplan says it's easy to tell when people fake their referrals and nab undeserved, free access to DistroKid. But up until now, he has turned a blind eye.
"We let them get away with it because I love seeing people use the system, whether they've paid for it or not," Kaplan writes on Medium. "It's one of the most complex things I've ever built and I'm really proud of it."
A video of a police officer showing kindness to a thief inspired Kaplan's admirable reaction. When a Florida cop caught a woman shoplifting and found out it was because she couldn't feed her family, the cop bought her groceries instead of arresting her.
Now, Kaplan's team has created a way to call thieves out and challenge them to do what's right.
"When the system detects that you've just created 5 bogus referrals, you'll be presented with a notice that we caught you, but here's an option: Either pay the $19.99/yr, or sign up for a free Scholarship account if you can't afford it," he writes.
Here's the cop video that inspired Kaplan.
- RBI Governor Das discusses ways to scale up UPI ecosystem with stakeholders
- People find ChatGPT to have a better moral compass than real humans, study reveals
- TVS Motor Company net profit rises 15% to ₹387 crore in March quarter
- Canara Bank Q4 profit rises 18% to ₹3,757 crore
- Indegene IPO allotment – How to check allotment, GMP, listing date and more
- Nothing Phone (2a) blue edition launched
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market