My Honest Thoughts on Substack & Growth, After 3 Months
To be a platform rather than just a tool, Substack needs to answer the following question: as another new creator joins the Substack, how does it become better for all the other creators as well?
Brian Balfour • Substack's Core Growth Loop — Brian Balfour
For the better part of two years, I struggled to find something of value to give my paid subscribers. Did people really just want to read extra newsletters from me? Not really
Simon Owens • The State of This Newsletter
Substack needs some network effects to keep authors tied to the platform, even if they can leave at any moment. The best way to achieve that is through cross-promotion tools that allow authors to constantly gain new readers that they wouldn’t gain otherwise. That makes their presence on Substack truly valuable.
Tomas Pueyo • The Future of Substack
What is the goal? To get subscribers? If we have a lot of subscribers, does that mean people are reading? So is that the goal, to have people read our work? And then what? I mean that sincerely. Then what? To change hearts and minds? To start conversations? To make yourself known? Why to strangers? Why not to your family or friends or people in you... See more
Cydney Hayes • The elite capture of Substack
Many (if not most) successful Substacks are built on the back of pithy tweets. Substack offers minimal to no demand aggregation so creators with large Twitter followings funnel their followers to their email newsletter. Similarly, TikTok stars also point their viewers to their Youtube page because Youtube offers more robust monetization options.