Gunkroad

In terms of unexplainable quirks I have as a human being, the weirdest one is this: Gum freaks me out. I hate the idea of it, to the point where I dislike the word.

It really bothers me, like nails on a chalkboard. I’ve never understood why. And it’s to the point where I’ve kind of checked out of things I might like just because their name references the word. (Apologies to Stereogum, I’m sure your music publication is just great, the problem is your name.)

So I’ve never been a Gumroad user outside of a couple of random purchases here and there. I just couldn’t get past the name. But nonetheless, I respected the role it played in creating what we call the creator economy.

And I’m also an advocate for the creator economy becoming less platform-driven. Someone recently made the point to me that the recent rise in low-code and AI-based tooling is likely going to separate out the platforms that solve tough problems—the Stripes of the world—from those that simply put a nice interface on a problem. And having access to tools that you operate yourself is a way to get there.

Which is why, when I saw that the company had announced it was open-sourcing its application the other day, I got past my weird linguistic quirk and saw something that could be a big deal. I think we need more creator economy things in the self-hostable category, and putting Gumroad in that category feels like it could be a huge kick in the arm pants for that space.

So I did what I always do: I posted about it. It saw a little bit of pickup, particularly on Mastodon. I noted a quirk of the company’s open-source license that doesn’t truly make it open-source according to commonly accepted definitions, but I otherwise just passively shared it.

But with a little retrospect and a little more digging, I’m feeling less excited about it. In fact, I’m slightly frustrated with myself that I shared it so passively. There are some real problems with Gumroad that make it a terrible foundation for a creator economy that puts the creator in control. And there’s also a big issue with its leadership that almost went unnoticed on the very same day that the news was announced.

So, now, rather than just sharing it, I’m writing about it.

Why people are frustrated with Gumroad

First, some existing users have pointed out some issues with the Gumroad service that have made it significantly less useful for the average user. Fellow traveler Evan Hildreth pointed out two specific issues: First, the platform changed its rules for when you could email end users, which was annoying but understandable, and more troublingly, the company seems to have replaced its customer support with LLMs almost entirely. As he wrote:

Finally, I asked how to contact Gumroad support. It pointed me to the help site that didn’t exist and the contact form within. I eventually found an email on another page and sent a message there; the response was very obviously from the same chatbot.

Chatbots are fine as one of many options to access support information. But as the only option? When it’s been trained on a help site that references itself (and therefore references a site that doesn’t exist)?

Additionally, the open-source licensing thing is kind of a fib—it’s more of a source-available license that limits your ability to use the tool after you hit a certain threshold. It’s not unheard of for this kind of license to be used by companies looking to lean into self-hosting without losing their money train. I have suggested that it can provide a middle ground for folks getting started as long as they’re aware of its limitations.

FOSS die-hards may not agree, but this kind of threading-the-needle can be done well, and honestly, IMHO. A good example is the content-management framework Directus, which essentially makes it free to use in most cases, unless you make more than $5 million in finances per year, at which point you need to start paying for it. Not purely open source, but it throws FOSS folks a bone by making it so that versions of the software that are more than three years old revert to the General Public License.

How does Gumroad do it? Well …

You may use the software under this license only if (1) your company has less than 1 million USD (2024) total revenue in the prior tax year, and less than 10 million USD (2024) GMV (Gross Merchandise Value), or (2) you are a non-profit organization or government entity. Adjust the revenue threshold for inflation according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index for all urban consumers, U.S. city average, for all items, not seasonally adjusted, 1982–1984=100 reference base. If you are a company and exceed either of the limits in (1), your license ends. You may contact the licensor to discuss an alternative license.

So essentially, if you ever have a single good year, you’re stuck paying a custom license fee.

Announcing an open-source shift as a big story drops

But if that’s all Gumroad was doing, I wouldn’t feel compelled to say anything. The reason I’m speaking up is because of this Wired story, released on the very same day Gumroad announced its “open source” license, which may have had the effect of minimizing the story’s viral impact. So I guess maybe a guy with a blog and a distaste for Gumroad’s name can give it a second stab.

The story is about DOGE, but it points out something curious:

On March 25, tech staffers and contractors at the VA noticed an unfamiliar name trying to push changes that could impact VA.gov code. It was Sahil Lavingia, a newcomer to the agency listed in the VA’s internal directory as an adviser to the chief of staff, Christopher Syrek.

Who’s Sahil Lavingia, you might ask? Why, the founder and CEO of Gumroad! It’s not even the central point of the piece, but the fact is, if you’re supporting Gumroad—a tool that, notably, has survived as long as it did because of a high-profile crowdfunding campaign—you’re allowing its CEO the financial freedom to work in the Department of Veterans Affairs, at the behest of DOGE, for free.

When submitted a list of questions about his work for DOGE, Lavingia told Wired: “Sorry, I’m not going to answer these, besides to say I’m unpaid. And a fan of your work!”

And the reason he has all this free time? Simple: As the piece notes, he achieved financial stability with Gumroad by replacing nearly all of its employees with automation. (Hence why Evan Hildreth can’t get any damn support.) Which is now what he wants to do with the VA, as the piece explains.

There’s a lot more there—which I recommend checking out the full piece to get a grasp on, but suffice it to say: If you disagree with this, now may be a good time to stop using Gumroad. It’s not like you’re going to find a support person there anyway.

Maybe it’s time to shake up the creator economy calculus?

May I make a suggestion? If the tech firm you’re relying on to make money is using AI and low-code tools to offer their service to you anyway, what’s stopping you from just doing the same thing? You can make a Gumroad or a Patreon. It’s easier than ever—I just featured a guy in the newsletter who did just that.

To me, I think that there is a real opportunity to take away the reins from middlemen who extract value rather than add it by leaning into things we host ourselves. Creators, for too long, have given too much power away to the company that made our lives mildly more convenient. If they’re trying to optimize to the nubs, destroying quality of service in the process, why even bother letting them have a lane in the middle?

To be clear, not everyone’s a bad player—and I will stand up for services I think do it well. (I like Ko-Fi, and personally just launched something there last week.) But if users get lost in the shuffle on a given platform, what’s the point of sticking with them?

AI is not everyone’s cup of tea, so if you don’t use it, don’t use it. Nobody’s asking you to be a vibe coder over here. But I think there’s a real opportunity to work around the current system’s deficiencies for creators, if they want to go down that road. If the makers of these platforms are optimizing everything to within an inch of its life, why couldn’t creators do that?

Plus, you could give it a name that doesn’t have the word “gum” in it. Which I personally would appreciate.