WhatsApp's founders, including Brian Acton, asserted that the company was on a profitable path without needing advertisements for revenue. They had already recouped their initial funding and only began charging a modest subscription fee. Acton suggested that as the service's value grew, WhatsApp could feasibly raise subscription fees significantly. Despite the Federal Trade Commission's speculation about an ad-based model to satisfy investors, the founders expressed a firm stance against abandoning their subscription strategy, especially without Meta's acquisition as a motivator.
"WhatsApp's founders believed that their subscription model was sufficient for profitability, which could have allowed the company to increase prices over time without relying on ads."
"While the FTC suggested that WhatsApp might eventually need to run ads to appease investors, the founders maintained that they had no intention of shifting to an ad-based model."
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