I'm not sure you can look at the Newsletter boom as independent from the Creator Economy, which is part of the Web3 movement. Revue is not Twitter notes. Having the same readers compete subscribed to more Newsletters does not necessarily produce a lift in conversions. Not only is it a Creator Economy winter, now there's more Newsletter platforms and paid conversion churn as a whole, meaning that the subscription economy boom we saw during the pandemic was an anomaly like so many things, and not a new normal.
I've noticed a lot of writers following the script to say how awesome Recommendations are, If you aren't in the top 10% of Newsletters, it's a very different experience. The fact is we need more creators and more audiences from elsewhere to make Substack work for everyone. There's no masking that, Substack works for the home-runners, not the everyday hitters who don't write "hits" in formulas, or who influencers plucked from the echo-bubbles of Twitter.
The Crypto winter, Creator Economy winter and new venture capital situation for startups like Substack is serious guys. This is not the time to celebrate one or two good features of Substack. What will subscription churn look like in a great recession? If your startup funds your users via just one revenue source (subscriptions), that's not a very well diversified business model for either your platform or the people that depend on you. I'm not clear why nobody cares to point this out.
Great analysis. I love the comment that Substack's recommendation engine is "a bit too frictionless". The worry being that people won't stay, but then, as you say, where's the harm? For the newsletter market as a whole I'm pleased the noise has died down but the underlying strength of newsletters hasn't been appreciated yet. Yes, weighing not voting.
Really interesting. Having a built a small media startup via Substack newsletters in the past two years (local journalism, mostly long form writing), I really love how this format has lowered the barriers to entry for trying something new. I'll be interested to see how this app (which I'm writing this comment on) plays out - how many users choose to 'pause emails'? Does it drive up comment and engagement rates? Anyway, thanks for an interesting analysis.
I'm not sure you can look at the Newsletter boom as independent from the Creator Economy, which is part of the Web3 movement. Revue is not Twitter notes. Having the same readers compete subscribed to more Newsletters does not necessarily produce a lift in conversions. Not only is it a Creator Economy winter, now there's more Newsletter platforms and paid conversion churn as a whole, meaning that the subscription economy boom we saw during the pandemic was an anomaly like so many things, and not a new normal.
I've noticed a lot of writers following the script to say how awesome Recommendations are, If you aren't in the top 10% of Newsletters, it's a very different experience. The fact is we need more creators and more audiences from elsewhere to make Substack work for everyone. There's no masking that, Substack works for the home-runners, not the everyday hitters who don't write "hits" in formulas, or who influencers plucked from the echo-bubbles of Twitter.
The Crypto winter, Creator Economy winter and new venture capital situation for startups like Substack is serious guys. This is not the time to celebrate one or two good features of Substack. What will subscription churn look like in a great recession? If your startup funds your users via just one revenue source (subscriptions), that's not a very well diversified business model for either your platform or the people that depend on you. I'm not clear why nobody cares to point this out.
Great analysis. I love the comment that Substack's recommendation engine is "a bit too frictionless". The worry being that people won't stay, but then, as you say, where's the harm? For the newsletter market as a whole I'm pleased the noise has died down but the underlying strength of newsletters hasn't been appreciated yet. Yes, weighing not voting.
Really interesting. Having a built a small media startup via Substack newsletters in the past two years (local journalism, mostly long form writing), I really love how this format has lowered the barriers to entry for trying something new. I'll be interested to see how this app (which I'm writing this comment on) plays out - how many users choose to 'pause emails'? Does it drive up comment and engagement rates? Anyway, thanks for an interesting analysis.