Gumroad, 2015

What happened to Gumroad after the layoffs?

The short answer

After laying off most of the team in 2015, Sahil Lavingia moved to Provo, Utah and ran Gumroad largely alone while painting and writing. An investor later offered to sell its stake back for $1, and Gumroad survived as a profitable business without venture money.

The situation

Growth has stalled, the next funding round isn't coming, and you've laid off three quarters of your team, many of them friends. A tech site has written about it. Your billion-dollar startup is now a public failure.

The options on the table

  • Raise a down round and rebuild the team
  • Sell to a bigger platform
  • Shut it down and start something new
  • Leave San Francisco and run it alone, with no teamWhat they did

What happened

Sahil Lavingia moved to Provo, Utah, learned to paint and wrote fiction, while answering support emails and fixing bugs himself to keep Gumroad alive. In 2017 an investor offered to sell its stake back for $1. Gumroad survived as a profitable business without venture money.

Sources: Marker, Indie Hackers

Up next

Keep going