[Robin_Message]

Indeed. I also thought the following comment from Scribd showed what is wrong with their mindset:

  As a start-up, we're constantly trying to strike the right
  balance: building products that people love but that also
  help us make money (to cover server cost and everything
  else associated with running a company).

Umm, surely as a company you are trying to do more than cover your running costs? Or are the saying "As a start-up" profitability is irrelevant and all they care about is covering their costs whilst increasing their market share? A larger share in a market no-one is actually willing to pay for is not worth more than a smaller one, what with them both being worth nothing and all.

[gthank]

A lot of people have these things they call lifestyle businesses: if they're meeting payroll and expenses, and loving what they do for a living, they've 100% satisfied their goals.

I'm not sure that's what is going on in Scribd's case, though.