Sahil Lavingia
E-commerce for independent creators, digital entrepreneurship, and minimalist business strategies.
Sahil Lavingia is an Indian-American entrepreneur, designer, and author. He was born in New York to Indian immigrant parents and spent part of his childhood in Singapore before moving back to the U.S. at 18 to attend USC, where he studied Computer Science and Engineering.
At just 19 years old, Sahil became one of the first employees at Pinterest, where he designed the platform's iPhone app. Shortly after, he left Pinterest to launch his own startup, Gumroad, in 2011. Over time, Sahil transitioned Gumroad into a lean, remote-first company and developed a business philosophy he calls "The Minimalist Entrepreneur," which he also detailed in his book of the same name. Today, Sahil lives in Provo, Utah, where he spends time writing, painting, and running his business.
Gumroad: Founded in 2011, Gumroad is an e-commerce platform that allows creators to sell digital products (e.g., e-books, music, videos) directly to their audience. The platform has enabled creators to earn over $500 million collectively. Initially funded with $8 million in venture capital, Gumroad later pivoted to a bootstrapped model after facing challenges securing additional funding.
SHL Capital: A personal investment fund through which Sahil backs early-stage startups like Figma, Notion, and Lambda School.
Flexile: A subsidiary of Gumroad focused on building flexible business tools.
Gumroad generates approximately $21.2 million annually (around $1.77 million per month). In recent years, the company has consistently been profitable with over $8 million in net income annually