Substack's Core Growth Loop — Brian Balfour

Substack isn’t the only player that has sought to figure out small-scale publishing in the platform dominance era. Medium, for instance, has been home to a rotating roster of small publications, but has pivoted often and failed to emerge as the media force many once hoped it would be. Best said Substack’s main focus is the connection between an ind... See more

However, the big question is their cost structure. For each publication, they take 10% of the subscription revenue. At the beginning of a publication's life, this is reasonable. Maybe even a steal. But once a writer builds a business that makes hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, what’s stopping them from moving to another platform like Ghost ... See more

A System That Builds Over Time

Here’s how I structure my week:

1. Start with a long-form post on a topic my audience cares deeply about.


2. Extract 3-5+ Notes and takeaways from that post.


3. Publish the Notes over a few days.


4. Let specific Notes and Posts convert readers into subscribers.


5. Watch what performs and do more of it.

That’s it. Simple, repeatable, ... See more