I’m writing a book about Gumroad. | Hacker News Reader

I’m writing a book about Gumroad.

sahillavingia.com

26 pointssahillavingia16 comments

You're asking me to pay $5 for a one-page PDF that's the first chapter of what sounds, in the absence of any information about it other than "I'm writing a book about my startup", suspiciously like an advertisement. After spending a few minutes clicking on links I was finally able to figure out what it is that Gumroad actually does, but neither your blog post or the purchase page gave the barest bit of information about the startup you're writing about.

I'm interested in what you're doing and would love to hear what you have to say, but it doesn't seem to me like you're doing a good job selling the book concept to someone who isn't already familiar with you or your work.

True, I've changed it to $1. I think this is a better price, especially for those (most people) that don't know me.

I'll also release a Chapter 0 all about pre-2012 in the next week or two.

Thanks!

I know this might sound a bit harsh (I really like your idea!), but what advice, experiences, or knowledge will you be talking about that justify the price? What is unique about your experience that separates you from thousands of people blogging for free?

Even beyond just the $1, I have to pull out my credit card and make a purchase (there's some transaction cost), which is a mental barrier.

I know this might just be something you're working on as a side project, but is there a particular reason why you want to sell it? I feel like you're in a position where it's more beneficial to you (and others) if you engage in conversations about your experience with Gumroad rather than publish something.

A conversation is usually much more engaging than a story, unless there's something very unique about the story.

Not harsh at all! I appreciate any and all feedback.

I want to test the model, and doing it myself is a great way of doing so. (so far it's working!)

I agree about the conversation, but I think the great thing about the web is that the line that separates a 'story' and a 'conversation' is blurring.

I think this experiment will lead to a very compelling version of both. Wish me luck!

This is a cool project, but the title of the book is very mis-leading ("Building a billion-dollar company").

Without knowing the author, people might presume that this book is written by someone who has built a billion dollar company before, and thus hand over $5 only to be disappointed (since they can't preview chapters). Not to mention it's a little link-baity.

Why not just call it "Gumroad"?

I agree that the title could use some love. Here's my contribution: The Gumroad to building a successful company. You can thank me later, Sahil ;).

Why don't you first make a success out of gumroad before telling us about how you made a great success out of gumroad?

There are something like 10,000 business books published in the english language each year. A significant percent are by or about people who have already had proven successes.

So I agree it's important to have a good reason why I should read this over the others.

At this price I'd consider the ebook by Mark Cuban (who is a billionaire), selling at $2.50 on amazon.

Sahil, I support a lot of your stuff and I'm a fan, but I'm not paying $5 for something that I'm not sure is good. I definitely would support the done ebook at the end (although it might take a while).

You should post a few sample pages so people can get an idea of whether the book is interesting to them.

This is a cool idea, Sahil, and I'd love for more entrepreneurs to publish their experiences and thoughts transparently during the process of building their companies (as opposed to retroactively writing it with perfect hindsight).

If others do this, setting up a live chat with potential readers in a Google Hangout-style way where you can talk about what you have done live with potential readers would be valuable. Also an obvious idea is allowing an explanatory video to be posted, but that may also clutter Gumroad.

I actually love the idea, but a 1-page PDF (as it is described when you click through to the Gumroad link) for $5 seems a bit steep in terms of pricing to me.

Someone's been hanging out with direct marketers:) But remember, direct marketers get your attention with the headline and then back it up...often using dozens of pages. A 100 word blog post won't make the sale.

It seems like you are selling page one of your sales pitch--not even the book.

umm how about you finish the book, then we pay for it. its also confusing if we are paying a page or the entire book..

May I ask if Gumroad is still running on App Engine?

Not anymore, it's on AWS now.

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