A $20m Business with No Meetings, Deadlines or Full-Time Employees
Jan 1, 2024
auto_awesome
A $20m business called Gumroad is run without meetings, deadlines, or full-time employees. The CEO discusses running the company like an open source project, turning customer ideas into product features, the future of remote work and the gig economy, and transitioning to a new business model.
34:22
AI Summary
AI Chapters
Episode notes
auto_awesome
Podcast summary created with Snipd AI
Quick takeaways
Running a business with no meetings, deadlines, and full-time employees can be highly efficient and productive.
Incentivizing contractors with equity can create a sense of ownership and accountability, leading to high-quality output.
Deep dives
Unconventional Way of Running a $20 Million Business
In this podcast episode, Sahil Lavingia, the founder and CEO of Gumroad, discusses the unconventional way in which he runs his nearly $20 million a year business. Gumroad has no meetings, no deadlines, and no full-time employees. Sahil treats Gumroad like an open-source project, where contractors and freelancers work asynchronously via platforms like GitHub, Notion, Slack, and Figma. He manages everything through a kanban board in Notion. Despite the unconventional approach, Gumroad generates $8-9 million in net income and offers equity to its contractors. Sahil aims to push this model to see how far it can go.
Efficiency, Equity, and Freedom at All Costs
Sahil emphasizes the efficiency and high productivity of Gumroad's model, where contractors are incentivized by equity to deliver on their tasks. He believes that employees who have a stake in the business are unlikely to slack off. Transparency and accountability are maintained through weekly updates from each person stating what they accomplished. While Sahil acknowledges the challenges of scaling and recruiting, he is excited about the potential of this model and its ability to attract highly skilled and motivated individuals.
Addressing Trade-Offs and Maintaining Company Culture
Sahil discusses the trade-offs and challenges of running a company in this unconventional way. He acknowledges that this model may not work for every company, especially those relying on soft middle-manager roles. However, he believes that this model is highly efficient and allows talented individuals to contribute at a high level without wasting resources. In terms of company culture, Sahil believes that a shared culture can still exist through in-person retreats, team activities, and shared interests, despite the lack of traditional office dynamics.
The Potential Future and Impact of this Model
Sahil envisions a future where companies adopt this modular, gig-based approach, using software platforms to manage freelancers and contractors at scale. He highlights the potential for a marketplace where businesses like Gumroad can thrive, allowing investors to support and capitalize on these highly efficient companies. Sahil is determined to show the success of this model through his company and shares his insights and learnings in his YouTube board meetings.
Episode 88: Today, I’m highlighting a nearly $20m per year business that is run in a pretty unconventional way. This business has no meetings, no deadlines, and no full-time employees. The business is Gumroad, an e-commerce platform for creators, and to break it down I chat with Sahil Lavingia the company’s founder & CEO. While the way Sahil runs Gumroad may be too unorthodox for how you run your company, I have no doubt that this episode is going to push you to think more critically & creatively about what it looks like to build a business in 2024.
Gumroad’s Website: https://gumroad.com/
Gumroad’s Public Updates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY2PgZMR2cI&list=PL_DfN-mKCGNuswqERc6sIA8urYAKARc6s
Sahil’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/shl
Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea! foundersjournal@morningbrew.com
#FoundersJournal #Startups #Entrepreneur
Listen to Founder’s Journal here: https://link.chtbl.com/OV4W93_W