Stripe Press — an Homage to Printed Works

Musings on Stripe Press, the digitally native publisher of physical books

Per Fine Art America

In a world where endless content types and formats are constantly in competition for our attention — how do real, physical books still play a role?

Over the last 10 years, Americans’ average daily reading time has declined by 15.15%, while time spent in front of television has increased by 1.06%. Despite minor TV consumption growth over the past decade, short form video has taken over as the dominant content format for many. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram now beat out TV in terms of daily minutes consumed, specifically for young people. Sidebar—our collective attention spans may be toast.

Per Wordsrated

Broadly speaking, reading is making up a smaller piece of societies daily content consumption habits and for those that are reading—fewer are reading real, physical books. 30% of remaining book readers are now reading online adaptations, not the printed versions. Ooof.

So given the macro trends that point to a shift away from long form, printed content, why would anyone in their right mind go into printing more of these things???Naturally, my first thought was good luck doing this with all of your Kindle Books (pictured below).

Per Spears

But as it turns out, there is a bit more to unpack than just me romanticizing baroque style libraries.

I am interested to know why anyone would want to start a book publishing business today, but I am especially intrigued as to why Stripe, a company constantly innovating in an industry far removed from the world of book publishing, has gone on to launch their own publishing business, Stripe Press.

This new format of Building Something Old focuses on a single company (Stripe) that is building something in an old industry (publishing).

A Brief History of Publishing

Although there is an important distinction today between printing (the production of written works) and publishing (the dissemination of said written works), much of the history of publishing is actually the history of printing.

Like many inventions popularized by the western world, the first iteration of the printing press originated outside of the west some 500 years before it was “invented” in Europe. Despite this, it wasn’t until the 1450’s that printing really took off. Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the movable type with metal dramatically dropped the cost + increased the speed of book production—allowing the common citizen to finally afford books (LFG). The Gutenberg press would go on to permanently alter the structure of society as we knew it. For the first time in history it was possible to have ~relatively~ unrestricted circulation of information, allowing ideas to transcended borders. Printed works, not word of mouth, became the common form of idea dissemination.

Per The Journal of Economic History

Prior to the printing press, written works had been transcribed by hand for the majority of human history. So publishing, in some capacity, has existed for millennia, just with very restricted distribution capabilities due to its extremely limited means of production. The printing press solved the production problem and as a result increased distribution— ultimately being responsible for spreading the ideas that would lay the ground work for movements like the European Renaissance and Protestant Reformation.

Readily available books drove sharp increases in literacy rates which empowered a growing middle class through an increase in accessibility of education. This early technological innovation was the first glimpse of into the democratization of information, foreshadowing the impacts of internet that would be felt five centuries later.

The State of Modern Book Publishing

Today, there are five main legacy book publishers in the U.S, all founded in the 19th century and who collectively control >80% of the US book market. Penguin Random house, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster are the five houses, colloquially known as the Big Five.

Many writers find it difficult to make connections with the big five, given the size and staying power of these houses. Luckily, alternatives do exist. Both self-publishing and smaller, independent publishers are viable alternatives for authors. Although there have always been Authors who opt to self publish, more are empowered today to do so given the ease of self distribution through online channels and lower cost of production with eBooks. Outside of self-publishing, authors can also explore a growing number of independent publishers, many of whom have carved our specific niches for themselves like TokyoPop with Manga, Barefoot Books for children, etc

Per Publishers Weekly

Enter Stripe Press

Stripe is one of the largest privately held tech companies in the U.S. It is (mainly) a developer-oriented online payments company that enables businesses of all sizes to accept online payments, including Amazon, Instacart, Slack, Shopify and millions of other businesses across the globe. Stripe has been most recently valued at $50 billion (it was $95 billion circa 2021). The company is estimated to reach ~$1 trillion in payment processing volume by the end of 2023.

The TLDR is that Stripe is a massive tech company in the online payments space. What in the world do they have to with book publishing? Well, in 2018 Stripe formed Stripe Press, a small-scale publishing house focused on books about economic and technological advancement.

Everyone (left), Stripe (right) — Per Peaky Blinders

Despite being a payments company, Stripe’s broader mission is to grow the GDP of the internet. Publishing content about technological and economic advancement is one way, albeit probably not the most capital efficient way, of helping entrepreneurs build and start businesses (which eventually may help grow the GDP of the internet). Stripe recognizes that it is unlikely that Stripe Press will be a major source of revenue—yet still, it doesn’t discount the impact it can have in shaping the future of entrepreneurship. Per Stripe Press:

“Stripe partners with millions of the world’s most innovative businesses. These businesses are the result of many different inputs. Perhaps the most important ingredient is “ideas.” Stripe Press highlights ideas that we think can be broadly useful.

Outside of this grandiose idea of powering the next generation of entrepreneurs through printed works, these two content distribution tactics from tech companies may provide a better explanation. 1) In recent years tech companies have allocated resources to creating and distributing their own content— Apple with Apple Studios, Amazon with Amazon Studios, etc. 2) Old school content marketing is making a comeback—Airbnb publishes a travel magazine, Casper and Dollar Shave Club have their own online magazines, and Slack has its State of Work Report, to name a few.

Through Stripe Press, Stripe has effectively built a hybrid of these two models. It is on one hand monetizing its unique set of content through a specific base of customers, not dissimilar to Amazon or Apple. On the other hand, Stripe press is also a content marketing engine that enhances Stripe’s brand, broadly. This growth strategy is one Stripe knows all too well—product first, audience second. Build something so beautiful that people will jump through hoops to use/buy it—all you need to do is tell them that it exists.

Per Stripe Press

The focus on printed works is one that does remain an open question. In my view, it comes down to Stripe attempting to connect with the type of person who is willing to choose a medium of story telling that requires initiative to procure, detailed investigation to understand, and an interest in subject matter that is strategically aligned with Stipe’s mission. Perhaps it believes that this demographic has some greater likelihood to contribute to increasing the GDP of the internet? Who knows. It can also totally be as simple as Patrick Collison, co-founder & CEO, who notably enjoys physical books, wanted to publish some ideas he liked.

Content From Stripe Press

One of my favorite initiatives from Stripe Press is that it will re-publish old and nearly forgotten books. I’m in the middle of reading Pieces of the Action by Vannevar Bush, a book originally published in 1970. Stripe Press updated this edition to include 15 archival images and a foreword that puts into context Bush’s key lessons for contemporary readers. A) its a great read B) its something I never would have found if it hadn’t been for Stripe Press. In addition to it’s tendency to look back in history for content, many of Stripe Press’ books like Get Together, Scaling People, and Stubborn Attachments are all newly published works. Outside its publishing of hardcover books, Stripe Press has also been responsible for publishing podcasts and even a film, also related to economic and technological advancement.

Stripe Press has placed a significant emphasis on the design of each book. Each one is unique in its colors, fonts, imagery, finishes, and themes, but all follow some basic guidelines— ie: the book can only come in hardcover form, it won’t come with a book sleeve, the Stripe Press logo needs to be on the top right corner, etc. Despite the uniqueness of each book, these basic requirements make the books feel part of a collection, enough to make you want to collect them all to complete the set. Each one exceeds a level of quality greater than any modern printed book I have come across, which makes you take pride in its ownership. These are books you want show off in your baroque style library.

Building Something Old per Stripe Press

Cautionary Tales

Airbnb tried its hand in publishing, releasing a single 128 page issue of Pineapple, a guidebook of user-generated content to tell the stories of Airbnb’s host community. Although unclear of the success of the initial launch, Chief Marketing Officer Jonathan Mildenhall slashed Pineapple’s budget to focus on other marketing initiatives and there was never another issue launched.

Although not a tech company, VC firm Andreesen Horowitz (A16z) launched a media outlet, Future, in 2021 as an attempt to directly shape the narrative around tech, specifically with a techno-optimistic lens. Similar to Stripe and Stripe Press which both uniquely work towards Stripes goal of increasing the GDP of the internet, the purpose of A16z’s venture capital and media business was to accelerate the advancement of the future. In the case of Future, it reportedly shut down in late 2022 after a year an a half of operations.

These two examples depict the difficulties that come with creating + distributing content and “going direct", even as some of the biggest names in tech. Across the board, pursuing new ventures outside the core competency of a company are difficult. They require a diversion of resources from said core business—something that may fly during times of capital excess, but may be first on the chopping block in times of turmoil.

Why I Am Excited About Stripe Press

The printing press created low cost distribution, but with limited means of production. The internet gave us free distribution and now AI has created the opportunity for free and unlimited means of production. In a world of unlimited AI produced content how do we sort through quality? How do we find the content that we align with? That is accurate and true?

Projects like Stripe Press in my eyes are the answer. Respected individuals/organizations creating highly curated, thoughtfully designed, quality content. As we spend more time consuming online content—printed works will become more and more sacred. As books become more sacred, they become more appreciated, and as a result more thoughtfully read. Stripe Press is playing a role in contributing to the burgeoning generation of thoughtful readers—many of whom may play a role in increasing the GDP of the internet.

Further Down The Rabbit Hole

The Promise of Stripe Press

Beneath The Surface (A Stripe Press Podcast)

Patrick Collison’s online bookshelf of physical books he owns

Pellegrini Press (not Stripe Press related, but cool to see a new, niche, and founder friendly printer/publisher)