First came the layoffs, now come price hikes on creator tools.
Startup Gumroad last week announced it would increase the cut it takes from creators’ sales of digital goods such as e-books, courses, memberships and newsletters on its platform. Online course platform Teachable also recently raised the prices of its monthly subscription plans for the first time in three years, citing “today’s environment.”
Sahil Lavingia, Gumroad’s founder and CEO, predicts that more creator-focused companies will follow suit next year. “The truth is investors have been subsidizing growth for startups … and that’s going away. So the business models of most companies will have to change,” Lavingia said in an interview with The Information. His startup raised about $8 million in 2021 through crowdfunding.
