I had it in mind to write today about pricing strategy, until I heard Richard Nash speak this morning at Booknet Canada’s Technology Forum.
Defining the strategic world view that underpins Cursor, his current venture, Nash invoked E.M. Forster’s Howard’s End: “Only connect.” In Nash’s words: “Publishing is not an end. It is a means to an end.”
I’ve written before that publishers need to start with the reader and back up from there. Nash convinced me this morning that I had missed the opportunity. The lesson is: Start with the community and find out how to serve it, now and in the future.
Publishing will still be part of the solution, but “it is not an end”.
I haven’t forgotten the pricing piece. Maybe tomorrow.
Edited May 12 to add: Interviewed at The Literary Platform, Nash adds some detail on his thinking about the Cursor business model.
