Textbooks

The story of Libro.fm begins not in a garage, but in a bookstore. In 2014, co-founder Mark Pearson, a publisher at the time, was in a conversation at Third Place Books in Seattle. The discussion turned to the rise of audiobooks and the reality that independent bookstores had no way to compete with Amazon's Audible. This conversation sparked the central idea for a new venture. Pearson, along with co-founders Nick Johnson and Carl Hartung, established Libro.fm. They spent the first two years in deep conversation with booksellers across the country to understand what an ideal platform would look like from their perspective. The business model they landed on was simple but powerful: sell audiobooks and split the profits with a local bookstore of the customer's choosing. The platform offers monthly memberships and à la carte audiobook purchases, directly supporting a network that has grown to include thousands of bookstores. Rather than seeking large venture capital rounds, the company was built through a focus on serving its bookstore partners and listeners. A major event in its journey was its global expansion, adding multiple currencies and allowing readers worldwide to support local bookshops with their audiobook purchases.