A sad ending, but a tremendous new beginning

What appears to us today as the end of the world is in fact a new phase in his life.

In the wake of the Summer of Substack, the novelty of launching a newsletter where readers pay directly for your work has given way to the reality of, well, keeping that newsletter up. And keeping those readers happy. And finding new ones when, inevitably, some of those readers decide they’re kind of over you (nicely termed as “churn”). Inevitably,... See more

Fast-forward to today, and your options are much improved. Journalists, and many other types of creators, now have what I call “audience portability”. They can bring their fans with them when they switch employers…and many are discovering the best employer is themselves.

Of course the thing about beginning again — about starting over midway through is that you have to be willing to watch yourself die.

I learned that from writing this newsletter.

Next week, it will be three years since I launched the cereal aisle, and I think the most important thing I have learned in the time since is that rebirth is on the other sid... See more