We’re a team of four, and we are in the process of hiring. We’re looking to hire software engineers, machine learning engineers as well as product design.
Do you have number in mind in terms of new hires?
We’re looking to stay lean and mean until we are at a point that our revenue is scalable. Then we’ll start expanding the team once we see that inflection point.
What’s a typical day like for you as the CEO?
In early startups, typical days are a little harder to come by. We have our daily standups, making sure we’re coordinating on our product decisions, our engineering decisions, how we’re engaging with creators and demo testing with them to make sure we’re building the right things.
What’s the backstory to your interest in comics, especially manga?
I grew up on comics. We — my brother, sister and I — would ride our bikes two blocks away to pick up comics and bring them home. We had boxes of comics!
Now, also being a publisher and creator of a graphic novel, I realized a lot of the barriers that exist there. A lot of the illustrators and writers are commissioned hires, so they get a one-off payment. They don’t see long-term benefit, and they also don’t own their work while many are working paycheck to paycheck. There’s something fundamentally wrong about that. We want to turn that on its head and put the creator in the driver’s seat and at the center of creation.
Do you have a favorite comic book right now?
It’s my favorite anime that I’m watching right now called Black Clover. I love watching the storyline develop … Asta and the Black Bulls and how they really go from the underdogs and outcasts into being the main hero. I love stories like that.
How many creators have you gotten involved in Lumi so far, and are there any that you’re particularly excited about?
We’ve have talked to hundreds of creators and are now onboarding them. We have had waves of them come on the platform already, which we’re very excited about. I won’t disclose any specific creators now, because we don’t have approval for that.
How do you drive revenue, and how can Lumi be sustainable?
We do a subscription model that gives creators access to all the tools on the platform. That’s everything from helping them create their story, distribute the physical publishing of their story, as well as merchandising on the platform. For the publishing and merchandising, we do a revenue share with the creators — that’s our way to be able to run and operate the business successfully.
Who are your competitors and how do you differentiate from them?
There are plenty of companies out there working on AI for the writing space. If we put the creator in the driver’s seat and offer them the best opportunity and best platform, not only to create but also to own and monetize their work, that’s a differentiator.
