My Startup and Me
When people ask me what I do for a living I reply:
I am going to change the way we tell stories and transfer knowledge.
If I wanted to explain my business model to my grandmother I would say:
Dear Elsa Meta Flor,
Omnibook isn’t any different than mixed orchards. You are happy, if a hiker takes an apple, the same way we are happy if someone writes a book. It is for free. You are happy if it tastes good – we are if you enjoyed the read. If someone wants to take a basket to collect apples you charge the price per kilo. Transfer this idea to Omnibook and we charge every additional book someone wants to write. It’s called B2C – Business to Customer.
Coming back to our example of the mixed orchards: if some asks you to collect apples for someone else for a collection fee you take a small part of that – that’s what we do, as well. For example, designers can offer authors to design their covers and editors can offer to proofread. They have a special access to Omnibooks, which we charge. This is called C2C – Consumer to Consumer.
Your mixed orchards are big, so you can let it out on lease, which you can charge as well. We do the same. If publishers want to rent a private part for their own authors and editors, we make that happen. This is called B2B – Business to Business.
The same way you do advertising and sell space for advertising in form of billboards, we think about doing the digital version of it. For example websites or even in books. If they want to they might even earn money with it! Could you give me an advice on how to sell those advertising spaces? Do suppliers approach you directly or do you work with your own partners?
The next time I am going to bring you cake and we can talk about a few more of my ideas on how to earn money with Omnibooks. Until then, stop worrying.
Yours,
Micz
My idea will change the content industry because...
…every author is able to merchandize his/her bestseller directly. Omnibooks gives him all the necessary equipment he/she needs to succeed. And the greater the success results the bigger Omnibooks is going to grow.
My motivation
My work makes me happy when…
…I have a day were everything comes together: content, technology, communication. And an author starts his/her book with the line “’Why do I always get nervous', thought Claudia as she was looking for her lighter...”
To be able to work well I need…
…an open exchange with all of my stakeholders: authors, developers, publishers, investors, press and contractors.
My experiences
My best experience until now:
1. Without the right team every good idea is worthless.
2. A business plan is essential – particularly if it is highly speculative.
3. Solving problems is the key to success.
Never again would I…
… make the mistake to think that API’s are just a nice plus, were they belong instead into the middle of every process operation.
When I meet investors I…
…I am going to talk about big changes instead of small features.
The future
When I overcome the next obstacle,…
…I am going to buy myself a lucky shirt in “Börsenvereins”-red.
If everything happens as planned now, in five years my company will…
…be the “facebook for authors” and other CONTENTshift participants from 2021 are planning already an “Omnibook for…”
If I had a free wish…
…I would wish for more time with my Omnibook authors to work together in regular workshops. It would be a sort of Omnibook clinic. There, we get the best feedback.
In ten years content will have…
…finally managed the transition from analogue to digital and therefore have completed the transformation from a product to a process. We will still be talking about books and with that refer to a process, which has been completed. The book will have become a metaphor and thus stronger.