Changelog Interviews

Taking on Goliath


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This week on The Changelog we’re talking with Nadia Odunayo, founder of StoryGraph. Nadia started out as a one woman dev and product team — she’s had to adjust and maneuver along way to becoming the Amazon-free alternative to Goodreads.

We talk about the importance of customer research, the iterative nature of customer research and what it takes to synthesize and analyze the findings to guide product development, the technical challenges and learnings she faced while building StoryGraph, for example at several points they’ve faced challenges in handling an influx of users and had to re-architect the system. We also talk about the business model of StoryGraph and how they generate revenue through Plus subscriptions, and partnerships with publishers for book giveaways.

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Sponsors:

  • VercelZero configuration for over 35 frameworks Vercel is the Frontend Cloud makes it easy for any team to deploy their apps. Today, you can get a 14-day free trial of Vercel Pro, or get a customized Enterprise demo from their team. Visit vercel.com/changelogpod to get started.
  • CIQ / Rocky Linux – CIQ is Rocky Linux’s founding support partner. They support the free, stable, and secure Linux distro called Rocky Linux.
  • Read Write Own – Read, Write, Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet—a new book from entrepreneur and investor Chris Dixon—explores one possible solution to the internet’s authenticity problem: Blockchains. From AI that tracks its source material to generative programs that compensate—rather than cannibalize—creators. It’s a call to action for a more open, transparent, and democratic internet. One that opens the black box of AI, tracks the origins we see online, and much more. Order your copy of Read, Write, Own today at readwriteown.com
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  • Featuring:

    • Nadia Odunayo – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, X
    • Adam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
    • Jerod Santo – GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X

    Show Notes:

    • StoryGraph.com
    • StoryGraph Plus
    • Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!

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