Nathan BarryFounder and CEO, Kit · Founder and CEO at Kit

The Most Underrated Business Model for Creators?

1 Sept 2026 · 1 min

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In this segment, Nathan Barry argues that writing books is an exceptionally underrated business model for creators. He emphasizes that a book, once written, requires no ongoing software updates or customer service, can be translated into dozens of languages, and can be sold globally with virtually no maintenance. Using the bestseller Atomic Habits as an example, he notes its presence in around 68 languages and its long sales half‑life, illustrating how a book can generate passive, scalable income indefinitely.

Don't be a writer, you'll never make any money. I think writing books is one of the best business models. If I was going to describe to you a business that requires no software updates, no updating once the product is made, you write it once and then it's ready, can scale effectively infinitely, you can translate into any language, you can spread all around the world. Atomic Habits is in like 68 languages or something. Has no customer service. If somebody doesn't like it, they don't come to me, they go to Barnes Noble, they send it back to Amazon. I never hear about it. And it also has a very long half-life. You know, you don't have to update the book, it just keeps selling and persisting.