I think there is some truth hidden in that first statement.
I think the financial model of porn is easy enough to grok, if you can get a lot of traffic to a legit site, then I don't imagine that you can't make a porn site work. It's really just a matter of figuring out what folks are buying and start selling it and if you're seedy enough you can find the right models, etc... It's probably easier in a lot of respects. What might be harder is "going legit" after that.
Without passing judgment, porn seems to be one of those addictive sorts of things, once you're in it or into it, getting out isn't always that easy. Especially if you've known "success" with it and not really in other ways. It's sort of a stereotype.
I've known a couple entrepreneurs that had experience with porn, running ISPs and providing various technical services, in the post-porn world they seemed to have a swarthyness to them that get in the way of a lot of things. I can't say if they were that way before or if it was something they picked up along the way but they just have different attitudes about the worker bees and people working for them as well as those providing services they purchase. The easiest way to describe it is a lack of respect on some human level; it's hard to say, they have employees come and go and it's just different, the people are almost all pissed when the leave and a lot more leave than do some of the other companies around here.
The easiest way to describe it is a lack of respect on some human level; it's hard to say, they have employees come and go and it's just different, the people are almost all pissed when the leave and a lot more leave than do some of the other companies around here.
I don't have a huge amount of experience in this area...but the one guy I worked with was absolutely fantastic to work with. In fact, he seemed so grateful that I was treating him like any other customer that he went out of his way to be nice in return. Of course, I was not his employee; I was a contractor and a vendor of software. This may have changed the dynamic, and perhaps he put on a more polite face when going outside of the porn industry. This may, even, have been part of his formula for success: the ability to play effectively in both the porn world and the straight business world successfully.
I do know the music industry a lot better, having spent a lot more time in it, and I kinda suspect the attitudes are similar in all "talent" based industries (e.g. businesses where you have a very clear line between the people who have and make the money and the people who are the "talent", whatever that talent might be). It breeds a very contentious working relationship, generally, with not a lot of trust or respect going either direction. So, I guess I can see working on the business side in the porn industry leading to the same sort of attitude that rock and roll club owners usually have (pay as little and as late as possible, treat the "talent" as expendable and interchangeable so they don't get uppity, etc.), and the other side being quite mercenary, with no loyalty to their employers (and with good reason).
I think the financial model of porn is easy enough to grok, if you can get a lot of traffic to a legit site, then I don't imagine that you can't make a porn site work. It's really just a matter of figuring out what folks are buying and start selling it and if you're seedy enough you can find the right models, etc... It's probably easier in a lot of respects. What might be harder is "going legit" after that.
Without passing judgment, porn seems to be one of those addictive sorts of things, once you're in it or into it, getting out isn't always that easy. Especially if you've known "success" with it and not really in other ways. It's sort of a stereotype.
I've known a couple entrepreneurs that had experience with porn, running ISPs and providing various technical services, in the post-porn world they seemed to have a swarthyness to them that get in the way of a lot of things. I can't say if they were that way before or if it was something they picked up along the way but they just have different attitudes about the worker bees and people working for them as well as those providing services they purchase. The easiest way to describe it is a lack of respect on some human level; it's hard to say, they have employees come and go and it's just different, the people are almost all pissed when the leave and a lot more leave than do some of the other companies around here.