Can a New Startup Profit From Offering Free Textbooks? Flat World Knowledge Co-founder Eric Frank on his new vision of publishing.
Extra: What other challenges do you expect to face?
Frank: … We figure there are some slackers who won’t pay for anything. We figure there are [also] the A-types—complete overachievers—who say, “I’m going to buy everything I need to and everything in between.” As we started talking to lots of students in-depth about whether we were right or wrong, we were validated that students—who ran a wide range—said that [they] would pay something for convenience. We did a study using Facebook. We went to 2,000 students to get them to look at this model and asked them, “What would you buy?” It absolutely validated … what we believe. Students will buy and will buy in sufficient dollars for us to be profitable. If they like the idea of a print book, and a majority still do, we can make a black-and-white available for $50 or $60, shipped directly to them. If they want an audiobook, we’ll give them an audiobook. … At the end of the day, if the price is right, they’ll buy. We sell a whole range of digital study aids, podcasts and study guides. We charge for those things. … We’re going to put as much care and thought as we would at McGraw Hill, but we’ll let the model do some heavy lifting.