As per LA community; you might enjoy this article recently posted on Fast Company Why You Should Start a Company in… Los Angeles: http://www.fastcompany.com/article/why-you-shou... It sums it up nicely by Mark Suster, LA's best known and beloved entrepreneur/VC and blogger of Both Sides of the Table http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/

I particularly love this line said by Mark: “I think if I compare [Los Angeles] to Silicon Valley, I would say [we are] slightly less geeky”

I totally agree with you that LA needs a Y combinator type of incubator. For years, there wasn't even a community. Now we started to have a vibrant community of startup entrepreneurs here. I think the time is right.

I totally believe in the value of Andrew's work, so I agree with you that he should charge for his content.

It took me a long time to finally comment on the topic. I hesitated because I didn't want to come across too biased since Andrew is a good friend and I am a huge fan of his work. But those who were whining were so loud that I realize that I have an obligation to say something. I am so glad that you have gone a huge step further and not only comment on Mixergy but also put together such a thoughtful and detailed post. Thank you. We need more passionate Mixergy fans to speak up like this.

No one expects you to answer all questions in the community. Today's entrepreneurs are able and willing to help each other, especially in the internet arena. I expect to see advice and sharing of experiences to each other. Free and open community would bring more traffic, but also unnecessary postings and irrelevant content. IMO.

As for private consultation, again, not much expected from you. The platform would eventually bring experts and entrepreneurs together. I for one won't be surprised that Marc Magnacca, your guest from yesterday and author of So What? be part of the expert forum. Mixergy provides the platform and earns small percentage of the session. That is all. It can be done. This would be an alternative to SCORE and very much needed for the internet community. Where SCORE lacks in experienced internet gurus, Mixergy would blossom.

I need to create tier up what I'm offering.

I'm not sure I could do the package you're proposing though. For one thing, I want to create a free, open community. In fact, I need to because I'm swamped with answering comments and emails individually. I need a community that's willing to help each other.

The other thing is that I can't offer private consultation. I'd like to offer instruction from experienced entrepreneurs instead. My audience keeps asking me to add instructional sessions, instead of just doing interviews. I need to find a way to do those on a regular basis. I'm not sure how yet.

People would pay for info, that is unique and helps.

Mixergy could become a consulting+teaching (think MBA, Accenture,…) platform for entrepreneurs. Andrew just has to do the interviews and provide the material in a structured way, and provide the infrastructure (forums, lists of best books for specific topics, etc.).