Just as many of the ugliest online fights begin these days, Brian "Box" Brown, an Eisner-winning illustrator and comic artist, sent a seemingly innocuous tweet. It read, in part, "my former regular freelance employer has let me know they'll be...Embracing NFTs 🙃 so...we had to part ways." The then unnamed business, Gumroad, shot back the next day with a now-pinned response denying it had plans to enter the controversial crypto-collecting space, and has since attacked detractors from its corporate account, provided conflicting information and alienated a growing portion of the artist community it serves. How did it get so bad?Gumroad, for the unfamiliar, is a digital goods sales platform, which hosts anything from art to ebooks to self-help courses. It was built in 2011 by then-19-year-old CEO Sahil Lavinglia, who is perhaps the only consistent figure within the company. Following a period of growth Lavinglia had to lay off staff in 2016 after failing to raise more money. The company survived, but as it is presently structured, Gumroad is something of an anomaly. The number of full-time employees, according to one the CEO's blog posts is "none. Not even me," preferring to maintain a contractor workforce. It also espouses a version of radical transparency, choosing to make its product roadmap and board meetings public. The image of an all-remote workplace free from deadlines or meetings belies a somewhat haphazard business. Some former workers seemingly signed no contracts... Continue reading at 'Engadget'
[ Engadget | 2022-02-08 21:00:47 UTC ]
Sweden’s Bonnier has announced a sweeping expansion in Europe of its BookBeat digital service, multiplying by seven times its former reach in terms of markets for audiobooks and ebooks. By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson Service Has More Than 50,000 Audiobooks and Ebooks he... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-06-24 12:55:40 UTC ]
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The growing popularity of ebooks in Russia is prompting some publishers to look at online serialization as an option for distribution and sales, both as an offer to consumers and to writers of works in progress. The post Russian Book Market Players Explore Digital Serialization appeared first on... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-06-20 05:30:42 UTC ]
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We can argue about the merits and flaws of Chromebooks all day long, but one thing is clear: They've found a strong foothold in the education market. Indeed, today Google is announcing that more than 30 million Chromebooks are in use by students arou... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2019-06-19 13:30:00 UTC ]
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Compared to Google and Facebook, Wikipedia is remarkably tight-lipped when it comes to requests for user data.Although Wikipedia is one of the largest websites in the world, it receives relatively few requests from government agencies for user information, especially compared to companies like... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2014-08-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Twitter is diving even deeper into data. The social media platform is now giving publishers and brands more insights into how their tweets perform. Today, the company introduced analytics for Twitter Cards, which allow companies to track how media-filled tweets perform—such as how many users... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2014-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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