I was just listening to a James Corbett interview where he talked about how he didn't think at all about money or membership or sponsorship the first two years he ran his website. He never pay-walled any content (except maybe the members newsletter, which mostly just had a list of stuff coming out soon).

He got hit pretty hard in the pocketbook when we was banned from YouTube and Patreon (and maybe Paypal too?), but he had backups of everyone on his website and it hasn't stopped him. He's going stronger than ever, and he he honestly doesn't seem to care about the money.