cohost
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Cohost was a social network launched to the public in June 2022 by the not-for-profit software company Anti Software Software Club (founders Colin Bayer and Jae Kaplan). It worked much like Twitter - follow users, view posts in a feed, like and repost - but differentiated itself with a chronological feed with no trending topics, support for long-form posts, and a business model that rejected advertising, funded instead by the Cohost Plus premium subscription.
02 / cohost FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
Cohost ran out of money. In September 2024 the staff announced the service would shut down: the small team, sustained only by Cohost Plus subscriptions rather than venture capital or advertising, could no longer cover operating costs and salaries. Competition from X and Meta's Threads, plus decentralized alternatives like Mastodon and Bluesky, fragmented the user base, and the anti-capitalist manifesto that defined its identity never translated into a sustainable business model.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Manifesto
Founders Colin Bayer and Jae Kaplan published Anti Software Software Club's anti-capitalist, anti-Big Tech manifesto, arguing for tools built on fair dealing and sustainable growth rather than market dominance.
- Public launch
Cohost launched to the public in June 2022 as a Twitter-like social network with a chronological feed, long-form posts, and no advertising, funded by the Cohost Plus premium subscription.
- Shutdown
In September 2024, running out of money, the team announced via the network's staff account that Cohost would shut down; the service was discontinued at the end of 2024.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
Run by the nonprofit Anti Software Software Club, it refused advertising and venture capital and survived on Cohost Plus paid subscriptions.
- 02
After its funds ran out, it announced its shutdown in September 2024 and ended service by year-end.
- 03
No audited loss figure was publicly disclosed.