We estimate that by 2025, Signal will require approximately $50 million dollars a year to operate—and this is very lean compared to other popular messaging apps that don’t respect your privacy.

  • snrkl@lemmy.sdf.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    23
    ·
    1 year ago

    When running a business, you need to budget 3x salary for actual TCO of a staff member:

    1x covers their direct salary 2x covers retirement fund, electricity, office space, and infrastructure items unlike server and laptops for corporate use etc.

    The 3x multiplier is for when you’re a services company, and that represents a possibly profit margin.

    So for signal, your $380k becomes $190k which in my experience is average for a US tech sw dev at a mid to early senior level.

    I donate to signal monthly and I have no problems with the costs they’re posting. I work in SV tech and I’ve seen 20x worse numbers.

    • Zworf@beehaw.org
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      3x is too much tbh. It’s more like 2x in total, at least going by european points of view - I don’t know what would make the US more expensive though with even less welfare. And office space in these days is a diminishing cost of course with all the hybrid/remote options. Laptops cost is pretty negligible. I think Signal does have a lot of hosting costs though.