Thread by @nathanbarry

For anyone thinking of investing in @Gumroad today you should know one thing:

The team that originally built Gumroad doesn't have equity.

They all lost it when Sahil tanked the company. You can't claim to be creator focused and not actually take care of creators.

I keep getting DMs to ask if I recommend investing in this round. Even though I was a huge fan of Gumroad for years (I sold $500k+ on the platform), I can't recommend it.

Creators got screwed when support disappeared & product dev stopped. Don't trust a founder who would do that

Gumroad's history:

1. Raise $10m. Build software, hire a team, get traction.
2. Mismanage it, team quits / laid off.
3. Tell investors it failed, get $8m written off. Ensure team gets 0 equity.
4. Restart company, focus on growth.
5. Wait 4 years, raise more $$.

Rinse & repeat.

If you don't take care of the creators you serve, or the creators who built the product, it's hypocritical to ask a new batch of creators to invest in your platform.

Building a company is insanely hard. I imagine Sahil got burned out and just needed time away. I think it's great he picked Gumroad up again a few years later and continued to grow it.

But be truthful about the narrative in the past. And always take care of creators.

But @shl It's not too late to make this right. You can still go back and give the team the equity they earned from working so hard to build Gumroad.

They are all wonderful humans and deserve the equity they worked for.