Working World

The website Goodreads.com should come with a big red warning label — “Book Lovers Beware: May Be Highly Addictive.” A site designed to get people connected through books and excited about reading, Goodreads acquired nearly 5 million users in less than 5 years. Time Magazine listed it as one of their Top Ten Websites of 2007.

A few years ago, Otis Chandler was a software engineer working for Tickle.com, which offered IQ and personality tests on the internet. These tended to be the types of things people wanted to share and it was fun to compare results. At this job he learned, among other things, that “fun is viral.” Later, while running a dating website, he noticed that niche social networking sites (such as JDate, or those for sports enthusiasts, foodies or art aficionados) work better than large generic ones because they create tighter communities around shared backgrounds or interests.

Both of these concepts came into play when he created Goodreads.com, “where you can see what your friends are reading.” This site has enabled me to organize my previously haphazardly compiled to-read lists, rate and review books I’ve read, and share recommendations with friends. I’ve found wonderful new books and authors, swapped books for the cost of postage only, entered competitions to win free pre-release books, followed favorite authors and literary events, and met new online friends who share my taste. There are discussion groups for every genre imaginable and a program where authors can promote their work and communicate with their fans.

When Chandler got the idea to build a social networking website, he wanted it to be the kind of thing he would actually use himself. He had always been a big reader when he was younger, but had gotten away from it as an engineering student. He wanted to start reading more again and saw this website as a way of getting himself and others more involved in reading. The users have helped drive its direction, as Chandler and his team have tinkered with it and made adjustments based on user feedback.             

Between late 2006 and 2011, users listed over 170 million books into their virtual library shelves. Chandler told bnet.com, “People who like books really like the site and they tell each other about it, so we’ve not had to do any marketing.” It wasn’t until 2009 that Goodreads had to raise any venture capital.

His involvement with the written word comes naturally. His grandfather, also Otis Chandler, and great-grandfather Norman, were publishers of the Los Angeles Times between 1945 and 1980. It was his great-grandmother, Dorothy Buffum Chandler, for whom the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Music Center is named.

Chandler originally intended to be a mechanical engineer and majored in that discipline at Stanford. He’d been an “engineering-minded kid,” always taking things apart. But when he graduated college in 2000, the dotcom boom and the explosion of new enterprises on the Internet seemed to present more opportunities to get involved in innovative projects. His five years at Tickle.com provided him with great training in business and project management.

When the company was sold to Monster in 2004 for $100 million dollars, as an employee he got just enough money to take six months off to build and start Goodreads. Chandler and his wife and business partner, Elizabeth Khuri, launched the site from Santa Monica in December 2006. They did an email blast to their friends, got picked up by social media blog Mashable, then book bloggers latched onto it, and it just kept growing.

Chandler has enjoyed seeing the site make a difference in people’s lives as they find more great books to read, increase their reading, and connect to others with similar interests. “I feel fortunate to be steward of such a thing,” he told Ideamensch.com. His own favorite genres are business, biography and science fiction, especially Dune. As of of January 2012, he has 270 books on his to-read list and 1,403 friends.   

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Suzanne Ridgway gave up life in the cubicle six years ago to embark on a freelance adventure. She loves learning and writing about entrepreneurs of all stripes and has fun redistributing the wealth as a grant writing consultant for nonprofits. She can be reached at http//ridgway-writer.weebly.com.