We started Hashnode with a mission which is "Building a conversational community for software developers". The idea of connecting developers and letting them exchange knowledge in a meaningful way has always been fascinating to us. So, we have been putting all our efforts on improving the current platform and growing this community. That's why we aren't worried about making money. Consequently, there are no ads on this platform yet.
But I know where you are coming from. In the end, a business has to make money. And sooner or later we'll have to start generating revenue. However, being a community based website, it's too early to introduce any business model right now.
Our operating costs are low and the servers/infrastructure have been sponsored by Microsoft Azure. In addition to that we recently raised a seed round of funding from a top VC. Funding news is not officially announced yet, but a quick google search may yield some results. :P
So, the bottomline is that our operating costs are low and Hashnode is well funded. This means : while we are thinking about business models, we won't be implementing anything in hurry or without proper planning/research.
Btw, you can learn more about our team here.