// THE SUPERTALK 2025 – 2050 THREAD //

[superfuture]

https://supertalk.superfuture.com/announcement/34-super-opportunity-2025-–-2050-supertalk-new-investor-operator-wanted/

If you wish to discuss the current announcement... fire away 🙋‍♂️ 
This could be the beginning of the new supertalk... or the beginning of the end! 
Not sure which way this will go.
 🤷‍♂️

[MJF9]

In case you missed it...

[ATWM]

I saw that  

I hope it works out. 

[Broark]

Yeah I don’t know where I’d go if this place came to an end. Not a fan of Reddit or Instagram, I just prefer old school forums I guess. Sadly I don’t have that sort of cash lying around to make a bid either. 

[Dr_Heech]

3 hours ago, Broark said:

Yeah I don’t know where I’d go if this place came to an end. Not a fan of Reddit or Instagram, I just prefer old school forums I guess. Sadly I don’t have that sort of cash lying around to make a bid either. 

If this place folds l guess we'd naturally progress to a WhatsApp group? 😂

[Hopethisoneisnttaken]

4 hours ago, Broark said:

Yeah I don’t know where I’d go if this place came to an end. Not a fan of Reddit or Instagram, I just prefer old school forums I guess. Sadly I don’t have that sort of cash lying around to make a bid either. 

Same here. Perhaps a discord server? 

[Double 0 Soul]

This day was bound to come...

Sadly.. i don't have folly money, tech knowledge or energy.

I love this place, there is nothing quite like it on the interwebz but part of it's appeal is also it's downfall, it's just too big to justify the handful of posts /day.. and someone has to pay for that privilege.

i was laughing recently at Ed's "Top 5 Pussy Ethnicities" thread.. but realistically, there are 100s of threads like this in the subs which haven't been updated since c2017 yet @superfuture is paying to host them.. apart from the few who like to do a bit of thread archeology, who's actually read these threads in the last 5yrs?.. i'd suggest, nobody!

If a buyer can be found.. brilliant! .. i'd like nothing more than to see it carry on in it's current guise.. if not i would rather see the place streamlined than exterminated.. could the sub forums be archived? .. would this make any difference to running costs?

From the perspective of someone who can count on one hand how many hours of TV they've watched in the last 20yrs.. i don't pay for Netflix, Amazon, Sky or any other entertainment package.. so considering the amount of time i spend on this place.. i would be happy to pay an annual subscription of lets say $40 .. but again, how does one apply that fairly? .. if it applies to all new members, they will inevitably go to Reddit.. but the $10 subscription worked for Something Awful and they're still online having implemented the fee in 2001.

We have.. let's say 40 core members here with another 40 occasional posters.. i'm sure the tech-ninja's would contribute.. fk knows how many of those there are?? I suppose mystery is part of their intrinsic nature.. let's say another 40 .. would an additional $5k/yr cover running costs?

..but again, how to apply this fairly? why should i pay to contribute, when you can comment for free? 

If worst comes to worst.. at least we get some notice to back up our own biz this time.. before the nuke drops! 

Edited October 16, 2025 by Double 0 Soul

[superfuture]

Actually supertalk doesn't cost a fortune to run these days - the Data Hosting and Backup Servers is the most expensive component - at around USD 500/month  (it used to be over USD 2000 back in the olden days at Crystatech before we moved it to Digital Ocean)... and streamlining over extermination could be a cost saving strategy. The hosting could probably come down a lot... it's just a bit of head torture to figure how to do it, but i am sure it could be cleaned up.

As for Eds' endless pussy threads that i fortunately avoiding ever viewing - they probably violate all the new insane internet laws coming into effect in this jurisdiction... so getting prosecuted for buried thread I have zero knowledge of, is possibly another good reason for a round of mass-archiving.

Subscriptions work and we have it all set up so that would be easy to tweak and expand - but whether everyone signs up is another thing... 

Monthly costs are roughly:
Hosting 
- Digital Ocean (Database and backups) $500
- AWS (hosting all the images) - around USD 120/month, 
Security 
- Cloudflare - around USD 30/month
DNS 
- Network Solutions 
Email 
- Newtek
- SMPT2GO
Subscriptions
- IPS (Forum software) about USD 120/ year
- Various plugins
- Various subscriptions    
--------
The admin of the site is a learning curve for sure - but I'm not exactly the most tech person ever and somehow we have survived a quarter of a century.

Of course, there are plenty of other ways to spend money on the site and when there's been $ available, we've tried to allocate that to various upgrades and improvements.  

It's actually still quite a feasible site to run. Just need to find new ideas on the revenue side of the equation.

[Double 0 Soul]

I'm happy to pay a subscription to keep the old ship 'a sailing.

If we could offer a 6 month thread amnesty for anything folks might want to keep for sentimental reasons.. some threads are absolute genius.. for instance the downfall of el_Ronn "helicopter brought out to shut down my after party" thread.. it's an incredible slice of internet history, 'Kickflipping Out Of Coffins ect, and wack them all in one sub forum.. but stuff like 'Gundam Or Not Gundam'..  'Post your Desktop 2015 Edition' with 1500 posts, nvr to be read again, they can go for me..

@cheapmuthafukr can you contribute here? 

 

Edited October 16, 2025 by Double 0 Soul

[Well27]

I'm also up for increasing the subscription. Like others, this feels like an actual nice place on the internet, and I've no interest in joining Reddit or IG for my denim content  

[Broark]

5 hours ago, Dr_Heech said:

If this place folds l guess we'd naturally progress to a WhatsApp group? 😂

Maybe we migrate backward to a weekly newsletter. 

3 hours ago, Hopethisoneisnttaken said:

Same here. Perhaps a discord server? 

That's probably the natural progression honestly.
Things are so cyclical, Discord does kind of remind me of old IRC servers that I used to be part of in a different hobby. 

32 minutes ago, Double 0 Soul said:

I'm happy to pay a subscription to keep the old ship 'a sailing.

If we could offer a 6 month thread amnesty for anything folks might want to keep for sentimental reasons.. some threads are absolute genius.. for instance the downfall of el_Ronn "helicopter brought out to shut down my after party" thread.. it's an incredible slice of internet history, 'Kickflipping Out Of Coffins ect, and wack them all in one sub forum.. 

With you here, I'd happily pay a subscription to keep the site alive in it's current state. Some classic threads listed here, wonder if el_ronn is free?
Might be a situation where you would need to keep subscription costs lower as to not deter new users and then make some sort of push to get additional users to sign up. That part could be tough, given the fact that the forum format isn't necessarily the most enticing thing on the internet.
Then over time (we're talking year to year, don't want to alienate your user base) gradually increase. By your estimation of user count combined with the monthly costs associated listed about, I'd estimate a ~$10 USD / month subscription would cover it every one of those core 80 members felt comfortable paying that.

[ATWM]

I’d also pay more happily. Perhaps a good bit more, like $100 a year. 

Subscription or some version of a “contributing member” that other forums have. (Wouldn’t need any label). But perhaps a give what you can strategy could be tried and see if … well it yields enough before sub rates are too high to deter new users? If this sub dies I probably am not going to discord and def not reddit or IG.
 

My wanna be Luddite self is not downloading another fn app, lol. As it stands I’m actually trying to sort out if I can bin my smartphone long term…haven’t sorted that out yet but it’s the direction my brain is going. 

[julian-wolf]

I’d happily pay a subscription fee for this, probably as much as $20–30 month if that’s what it came down to. On the surface that seems like a sort of crazy expense, but comparing the benefits I get from this place to those I get from similarly priced and much much less cool streaming services makes it feel like a no-brainer. The internet costs money to run, I guess.

That said, my first thoughts when reading the banner post were that whatever the next form ends up looking like, it’ll be a lot different…and that this was bound to happen sooner or later. It’s completely reasonable (and unsurprising) that the current proprietor to want rid of the place, given how much less active it is than it once was. Meanwhile, for the same reasons, it’s hard to imagine anyone (besides one of us???) wanting to buy it out without planning to make significant changes in order to make it at least a little bit profitable—any of which, I’d imagine, would almost necessarily pull it closer in the direction of the other, more-profitable alternatives that already exist and that we’re all here, to varying degrees, in order to actively avoid. I’m keeping my hopes high but my expectations low.

 

7 hours ago, Broark said:

Maybe we migrate backward to a weekly newsletter. 

I guess this was probably said in jest, but I’ve been thinking of starting a little personal newsletter for a while, sometimes focusing on clothes, sometimes on whatever else is on my mind. I think I’d migrate to that medium long before I’d resort to Instagram or wherever else (okay, admittedly I do still comment regularly on r/rawdenim, but that feels like it serves an almost completely orthogonal purpose to this place, at least to me). There’s some really cool content on Substack. I haven’t yet explored what it looks like, in practice, to actually participate, but I do think that this news’ll end up being the push that I need to finally give it a try.

[Cold Summer]

Count me in for Denim Substack (Denimstack?) It's worked out pretty well for Blackbird Spyplane in the more generalized streetwear/fashion space.

[Double 0 Soul]

50 minutes ago, julian-wolf said:

I’d happily pay a subscription fee for this, probably as much as $20–30 month if that’s what it came down to. On the surface that seems like a sort of crazy expense, but comparing the benefits I get from this place to those I get from similarly priced and much much less cool streaming services makes it feel like a no-brainer. The internet costs money to run, I guess.

That said, my first thoughts when reading the banner post were that whatever the next form ends up looking like, it’ll be a lot different…and that this was bound to happen sooner or later. It’s completely reasonable (and unsurprising) that the current proprietor to want rid of the place, given how much less active it is than it once was. Meanwhile, for the same reasons, it’s hard to imagine anyone (besides one of us???) wanting to buy it out without planning to make significant changes in order to make it at least a little bit profitable—any of which, I’d imagine, would almost necessarily pull it closer in the direction of the other, more-profitable alternatives that already exist and that we’re all here, to varying degrees, in order to actively avoid. I’m keeping my hopes high but my expectations low.

 

I think we should start off in year1 with a small amount we're all comfortable with, which everyone should pay annually to contribute to the forum.. then see how it goes from there.. let's not forget, some folks have a 3rd world economy where 20 bucks is the equivalent to a weekly grocery shop, some folks have young families, some folks are even living in a war zones.. then if you want to be a 'super-supporter' you should get an avatar award to thank you for the generosity. 👍

With all the 2010 flame wars.. i bet this place was more of a headache when it was at it's most active

 

[ATWM]

I do a (very, very) occasional newsletter for my photography and related things and have cycle through different platforms, and I was on Substack for a little bit, and there is a lot of good stuff on there. Technically I guess I still am on Substack, I still subscribe to some writers there. But only as an email reader.

A word of note about it though - the backend user experience, if you're going to be a contributor in any sense of the word, has descended into essentially nothing better than X or BlueSky or what have you. The founders talked a lofty game but enshittification is quite clear there, too. 

Once they integrated the notes feature (basically twitter) a few years ago they centered it and made it an endless scroll and it is full of "suggested" material that is engagement farming trash, writing about getting more followers, rage baiting political nonsense (or sometimes common sense but rage baiting all the less) and all of the other wonderful things. I found that, as a writer, it was really hard to steer clear of that and just do the newsletter. There are also some other limitations I found frustrating but that's going to happen anywhere. 

Anyways, I host my newsletter from my own website now with wordpress tools. It's definitely cost me visibility and maybe slightly a voice in the "discourse" of my industry but I got to the point where those things mattered a lot less to me, gratefully. 

I note this because while a denim substack would be cool, but seems to be it would be a different thing than here in a pretty complete way. Perhaps that's my own failure of imagination though. 

To my mind the best solution is to delete everything on this site except SuperDenim (And maybe SuperTechwear but it seems that it's only a classified section at this point), get some subscription funding that hopefully pays for lower hosting fees resulting from the clean up, and go from there. Do any of us use anything but this talk forum? That's just me - and I totally get the site runner exploring all options!

[julian-wolf]

@Double 0 Soul Absolutely—for any community that’s both this small and this varied, I think a sliding scale tends to make the most sense

I wouldn’t want to scare any would-be contributors off with a too-high buy-in, but having a framework for those that both feel the desire to and have the means to contribute more can go a long way

[Double 0 Soul]

1 hour ago, ATWM said:

To my mind the best solution is to delete everything on this site except SuperDenim (And maybe SuperTechwear but it seems that it's only a classified section at this point), get some subscription funding that hopefully pays for lower hosting fees resulting from the clean up, and go from there. Do any of us use anything but this talk forum? That's just me - and I totally get the site runner exploring all options!

Let's not be too hasty.. i'd like to see a good chunk of everything saved, having been witness to a mass deletion in the past.. it's a trauma!

Supertrash for instance.. these events and circumstances will never happen again, i think we need to save it for posterity, we just don't need to save 247 pages of it.. in an ideal world, i'd like a bunch of peeps who were closer to it to filter out the.. erm supertrash and leave us with let's say 50 pages.. even superdenim can be pared down.

Edited October 16, 2025 by Double 0 Soul

[CSL]

I'm up for a subscription. I'd hope it wouldn't be more than $100 per year.

 

[chicote]

I've always wondered -- is Sufu the only extant forum about this side of the clothing world anymore? I know in the past we had some posters from Japan, more from SE Asia, etc who were at least semi-regulars, but I imagine those regions of the world have their own active forums, and most probably not in English... anyway, I'm not particularly engaged with the Japanese denim-related media (YouTube, etc.), and haven't built relationships with any particular brands or shop owners there as I know some of you have, but I wonder if there might be some way to leverage the relationships our community has built with the much larger and better-funded denim world overseas to re-envision this forum and help it appeal to more of a global audience. It's seemed in the past with some of the denim contests we've hosted (DWC, etc) that it's possible, with a bit of organization, to connect with at least small communities of overseas denim-heads.

The other idea I really like is what some of you have mentioned, doing some sort of newsletter or maybe even a small printed magazine -- so many of our users write great, in-depth posts, not just reviews of jeans but tours of our neighbourhoods, hobbies, etc.. and when I think about the size of our forum's active membership, i feel like we have actually a really nicely-sized and committed group to take on that sort of a project. Now that I'm in school, I'm only on here maybe once a week just to scan some of the new threads, so the constant availability of the forum isn't as much of an appeal to me, and japanese magazines like Lightning I obviously can't read so am not as inclined to sit down and page through, but something from our side of the world would be wonderful to flip through for a couple hours once in a while, and would perhaps help build relationships with retail & online shops and brands who could carry copies, run ads or promos, etc... plus if we're already talking about a $100/year subscription fee, that's significantly more than most people already pay for premium magazine subscriptions anyhow... I dunno, obviously haven't given it a ton of thought but I do feel like so many of us abhor social media that the prospect of being pushed any more in that direction through monetizing this site or switching to another forum sounds horrible! - while pushing the pendulum in the other direction I could see being really fruitful and honestly in line with the direction I intuitively feel the world is starting to head in again.

Edited October 16, 2025 by chicote

[MJF9]

I'm up for paying to keep this great place afloat.  No hesitation. 

I haven't had time to give this thought this week, but some great ideas flowing above

@superfuture would subscriptions resolve the situation for you?  Or would you want to weigh up any other investment options first?  Thanks for keeping it going thus far by the way 👍

 

  

[Broark]

I think @chicote might be on to something here, great stuff.
Maybe some sort of printed quarterly, we could get some shops to pitch in to advertise / distribute.
Honestly in my day job I work on the execution / operational side of things, so at times more creative stuff can be lost on me.  
But when it comes to getting stuff done efficiently I'm your guy.

And you bring about a good point with the international community, there are definitely a lot more active people across the globe participating in this stuff in various places.
Need to try to do some more market research and see what's happening.

[Double 0 Soul]

I think the magazine is a lovely idea but the logistics and cost of printing multiple physical copies + world wide shipping costs would be prohibitive in the long term, there would be zero feedback or conversation on the back of one’s endeavours, I imagine it would just run out of steam.. 

edit- sorry guys, I don’t want to sound negative, I just think we need to focus on getting this place ship shape first.

Edited October 16, 2025 by Double 0 Soul

[Broark]

Yup that's fair 00, not much opportunity for ROI. Shipping is expensive these days.

[MJF9]

The magazine could be issued online to save all the shipping costs and faffing

[Double 0 Soul]

Just now, MJF9 said:

The magazine could be issued online to save all the shipping costs and faffing

A bit like a denim forum 

[MJF9]

Only less regular

The price of magazines is rising - the last Men's File cost me 50 Euros with shipping

We could do our pinhole camera version - Sufu Files - keeping it real - and take the market  

[superfuture]

Another option I'd originally thought of, was to set an equity structure of say 25% for a new operator with 24% sold to members as MICRO SHARES - ie. On the current proposal a 1% share = USD 147. 
ie. If there were 100 member/investor subscribers then it would cost each USD 70.56  (CHEAP!)
For the operator USD 7056. (BARGAIN!)

It would need to follow with a annual contribution fee for each member.

The upside is everyone having an equity stake in the new supertalk company. 

I had imagined a situation where members could trade their share and this all seemed fantastic –  until I discovered that "once you’re offering shares for money, Australian securities law and ASIC regulations apply. This could put it under Corporations Act “crowdfunding” rules or trigger other registration requirements unless exemptions apply... Shares tradable on the website” essentially means operating an unlicensed securities exchange — heavily regulated, likely illegal without proper approvals."

There are also then other issues - Governance.

I don't know the rules about "crowdfunding" and also not sure if that is feasible in this case? 

• ASIC compliance is critical. Even member crowdfunding could be deemed a securities offering.

• Trading shares “via the website” = unlicensed exchange → high regulatory risk.

• Need airtight shareholder agreements (voting rights, profit rights, exit conditions). 

Consequently i've shelved that option for now. 

[superfuture]

As to alternatives for a Members component...
Here's what AI thinks:
(Note: The current offer of operator/investor 49% doesn't include a members component... but it potentially could) 

🔄 Alternative Models for Proposal 01

Option A: Membership Tiers (Non-Equity)

Concept: Instead of “shares,” members buy into tiered supporter memberships (USD 100, 250, 500, 1000). These confer benefits but not legal equity.

Examples of benefits:

• Special badge or recognition on the site.

• Early access to new features.

• Voting rights on new forum initiatives (non-binding, community-driven).

• Exclusive sub-forum for “Founders’ Circle.”

• Discounts on merchandise, events, or services if later added.

Advantages

• No securities law risk — this is a subscription/loyalty model, not equity.

• Simple to administer.

• Members feel ownership and involvement without complex legal structures.

Disadvantages

• Not actual equity — members can’t profit from a sale.

• Must ensure benefits feel “worth it” beyond goodwill.

---

Option B: Community Trust Model (Non-Tradable Equity-like Units)

Concept: Form a community trust or foundation (could still be in Australia). Members can buy “units” in the trust, which entitle them to participate in governance but not to trade units for profit.

Features:

• Units cost USD 100 or more.

• Unit holders get voting rights in the trust (e.g. electing a community board).

• The trust holds up to 25% of the new holding entity.

• No secondary market — members can’t resell units for gain, avoiding “securities exchange” problems.

Advantages

• Stronger sense of “real ownership” than Option A.

• Keeps control in the hands of community while staying compliant.

• Legally safer than tradable shares.

Disadvantages

• Still requires a lawyer to set up properly.

• Less attractive to investors who want financial return.

---

Option 😄 Profit-Sharing Membership (Revenue-Share Instead of Equity)

Concept: Members buy a “stake” (USD 100–1000) that entitles them to a small share of future revenue streams (ads, affiliate, etc.) — but not ownership of the company.

Structure:

• Members don’t own shares but get a contractual right to receive X% of annual surplus revenue up to a cap.

• Can be time-limited (e.g. payouts for 5 years).

• Example: “Community members collectively get 20% of annual net profits.”

Advantages

• Members get a tangible financial upside without holding equity.

• Easier to explain (“a co-op style dividend”).

• Avoids securities exchange regulation if structured as a revenue-share agreement.

Disadvantages

• More accounting complexity.

• Requires lawyer/accountant to define “profit” clearly.

• Still less clean than a pure membership model.

---

📝 Recommendation

• If the goal is community engagement & goodwill → Option A (Membership tiers) is easiest and safest.

• If the goal is shared governance with structure → Option B (Community Trust) is best.

• If the goal is financial upside without legal equity → Option C (Profit-sharing) works, but needs clear contracts.

[superfuture]

I don't think the core supertalk forum format really needs to change - but where I see potential to move is through another layer of editorial (wordpress site), regular newsletter (mailchimp), someone who actually knows how to get the ads and affiliate networks optimized (Google/Meta), a genius who can handle social media - there needs to be dedicated IG/Tiktok etc - which supertlk doesn't have. Streamlining the content is a big task but not impossible. Separating supertalk (as a subdomain of superfuture) into a new URL might also clean up a lot of the search engine clog. An actual online shop with products. Classifieds that work (maybe we should just reopen the old free Marketplace?)

Printing mags is a stage 2... though I can say that selling formatted PDF content works! (superfuture basically exists on the sale of simple PDF city guides)

Btw... all this discussion is really helpful. ✅