TL;DR:
I think doing some polling from different segments would give a lot of clarity in the direction of monetization/livelihood:
Segments (may be more, I’m just winging it):
- Users - current, “on-the-fence” folks, “hell no” folks
- Devs - Plugin authors, theme devs, etc
I think a few, well thought out polls would help.
For example, on the user segment:
- Needs assessment - What does end users want? What do they absolutely need? What would make them switch? etc
- What’s the market willing to pay…and for what? Once new features begin to get introduced, plugin authors start creating more assets, adaptation becomes more widespread, value of CP goes up. I personally think a free version should exist and a premium version should exist. The free version could be with limited features, while the premium has much more and at a price point that makes it a no-brainer for business-owners. WP-type price points range in the $100-$200/yr from what I’ve seen.
This I don’t know yet. Just off the cuff, I would want to know that my $x is going to someone that is actively working/maintaining/improving a product, and will be there if I need some help making something work.
Obv more thought needs to go into this, but the gist is defining the direction while making money. Yes, democracy, rainbows and unicorns are cool, but things happen when there’s incentive.