Erin Griffith, writing for PandoDaily, on MacMillan’s future publishing plans:
Macmillan Publishing has taken an entirely different route altogether. It’s one that, until now, has remained relatively under the radar. The company hired Troy Williams, former CEO of early e-book company Questia Media, which sold to Cengage. Macmillan gave him a chunk of money and incredibly unusual mandate:
Build a business that will undermine our own.
This is a smart move. A company should never tie themselves to a particular product. Products are finite - as they die, so goes the company (see RIM). Instead, a company should make products that reflect their values and goals - those are timeless.