+1. They started by building on top of SMTP, then gradually introduced more and more closed layers (eg Chat, Notes) and network effects (eg author recommendations). 

The vision of Paragraph is that these layers should be open, composable & owned by creators/readers wherever possible

cma.xyz. Founder /paragraph, ceo /mirror, previously at Google & Coinbase 

One of the things I worry about with it being so open is the future ability to monetize sufficiently to keep development staffed and innovation moving forward, especially against competition that "chooses violence" or vamp atks. Ideally you guys can find commonly aligned goals but it is a huge challenge. Thoughts?