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How do you make a better goodreads that is sustainable when Amazon will always make it free as a way to sell more books on Amazon? It is pretty easy to make a X

How do you make a better goodreads that is sustainable when Amazon will always make it free as a way to sell more books on Amazon? It is pretty easy to make a X that is better than the status quo. How will you compete with the big guys financially? People want everything for free.

bagofbones 6y ago
This is the billion dollar question, but having the right answer at the outset may not be necessary. In fact, most successful business go through multiple iterations on monetisation opportunities before they strike gold. It is more important to build a product that solves problems that Goodreads doesn't solve right now, and find a way to acquire customers that doesn't rely on Google SEO.
- snarf21 6y ago
  That is a good approach but the risk is that if the feature you add that people really want is trivial for Amazon to copy after you've proven it.
oauea 6y ago
Do you remember when people made websites to solve problems and build community, instead of to make a profit? You can always just shill for amazon using affiliate links, everyone wins.
- dlivingston 6y ago
  The value of a social network is directly proportional to the number of edges in the network graph (I.e., SocialNetworkX might be better than Facebook, but if none of your friends are on it, it’s worthless). For Goodreads, couple that with the vast amount of book metadata they have + Kindle integration, and any startup would have a long way to go to even reach parity. Scalability + data aggregation + user adoption == lots of funding + a clever business model + a significant reason to switch from $DOMINANT_COMPANY + a good bit of luck. That requires huge financial resources, and thus, a solid monetization scheme.
- x0x0 6y ago
  Making money (and this site will take a lot of money to build, even if it's just to break even) via Amazon -- while competing with an Amazon property -- is not something that is going to work. I frankly think this is the central reason there's no goodreads competitor: how to make enough money to break even when Amazon becomes your enemy...
x0x0 6y ago
Not to mention amazon will very aggressively react when you start cutting into an (effectively free) leadgen source from them.
distances 6y ago
Good first step would be to free the data under an open license. A MusicBrainz for books. Now that I think about it, there probably are multiple projects already trying to do that.
throwawayjcvbs 6y ago
goodreads is not supported by amazon. its self sustaining through ads, affiliate links and publisher promotions.

bagofbones 6y ago

This is the billion dollar question, but having the right answer at the outset may not be necessary. In fact, most successful business go through multiple iterations on monetisation opportunities before they strike gold. It is more important to build a product that solves problems that Goodreads doesn't solve right now, and find a way to acquire customers that doesn't rely on Google SEO.

snarf21 6y ago
That is a good approach but the risk is that if the feature you add that people really want is trivial for Amazon to copy after you've proven it.

oauea 6y ago

Do you remember when people made websites to solve problems and build community, instead of to make a profit? You can always just shill for amazon using affiliate links, everyone wins.

dlivingston 6y ago
The value of a social network is directly proportional to the number of edges in the network graph (I.e., SocialNetworkX might be better than Facebook, but if none of your friends are on it, it’s worthless). For Goodreads, couple that with the vast amount of book metadata they have + Kindle integration, and any startup would have a long way to go to even reach parity. Scalability + data aggregation + user adoption == lots of funding + a clever business model + a significant reason to switch from $DOMINANT_COMPANY + a good bit of luck. That requires huge financial resources, and thus, a solid monetization scheme.
x0x0 6y ago
Making money (and this site will take a lot of money to build, even if it's just to break even) via Amazon -- while competing with an Amazon property -- is not something that is going to work. I frankly think this is the central reason there's no goodreads competitor: how to make enough money to break even when Amazon becomes your enemy...

x0x0 6y ago

Not to mention amazon will very aggressively react when you start cutting into an (effectively free) leadgen source from them.

distances 6y ago

Good first step would be to free the data under an open license. A MusicBrainz for books. Now that I think about it, there probably are multiple projects already trying to do that.

throwawayjcvbs 6y ago

goodreads is not supported by amazon. its self sustaining through ads, affiliate links and publisher promotions.