I think a couple lessons that could be learned for the next time someone tries to make a website like this are:
- Better premium features. Actually MAKE those premium features. Those need to be a priority next time around. The things staff promised would be Cohost Plus features never ended up making it in. There were other features they prioritized but unfortunately that meant way less subscribers. Increased upload limits and supporting staff is nice and all, but it isn't enough for most people. Cohost had a LOT of premium users. I think it could have had way more if they added the expanded customization options. Getting to change the colours of your profile page would be fun. Exclusive avatar shapes would be fun. The fact is most people can't afford to just subscribe out of the kindness of their heart. You need more to offer them.
- Do something like the artist alley but put the ads in the sidebar. This was something multiple people were in support of. It reminds me of back in the age of webcomics when Project Wonderful was around. I never felt annoyed by those ads. Multiple people including me reported getting next to nothing out of artist alley, if anything at all. As it was, artist alley didn't have enough to offer people either.
Obviously this is just some thoughts off the top of my head. Obviously I am not an expert in any means. I'd just love to see a site like this come around again sometime, and I think in order for it to be more sustainable, the next one needs to give users more reasons to spend money.

