So You Want to Launch a Newsletter: Tips From Substack Writers
a16z Podcast17 Sep 2020

So You Want to Launch a Newsletter: Tips From Substack Writers

This episode, part one in a two-part series on the Creator Economy, explores the process and economics behind creating an independent newsletter. In this candid conversation, host Lauren Murrow talks with four Substack writers—an artist, a technologist, a journalist, and a clinical researcher-turned-psychedelics scholar—about how to find and foster an audience, the calculus behind going paid versus unpaid, the pressure to produce, and financial benchmarks for making a living from newsletter writing.

The pandemic has prompted a reckoning within traditional media and, in parallel, a surge in the newsletter ecosystem. On Substack, readership and active writers both doubled from January through April. The newsletter hosting platform now has more than 100,000 paying subscribers.

This episode reveals the behind-the-scenes experiences of four newsletter creators, all of whom launched roughly within the past year:

Software engineer Lenny Rachitsky, most recently a growth product manager at Airbnb, whose tech-focused dispatch is called Lenny’s Newsletter.

Artist and writer Edith Zimmerman, creator of the Drawing Links newsletter, which chronicles her life and musings through comic-style illustrations.

Zach Haigney, an acupuncturist and researcher whose newsletter, The Trip Report, explores the science, policy, and business behind medicinal psychedelics.

And Patrice Peck, a freelance journalist—previously a staff writer at BuzzFeed—whose newsletter, Coronavirus News for Black Folks, highlights the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on the black community.

Listen to the end of the episode to hear more about Patrice, Zach, Edith, and Lenny's top newsletter recommendations:

Patrice’s newsletter recs:

The Intersection by Adriana Lacy

Beauty IRL by Darian Symone Harvin

Carefree Black Girl by Zeba Blay

Maybe Baby by Haley Nahman

Zach’s newsletter recs:

Stratechery by Ben Thompson

Sinocism by Bill Bishop

A Media Operator by Jacob Cohen Donnelly

Off the Chain by Anthony Pompliano

The Weekly Dish by Andrew Sullivan

Edith’s newsletter recs:

The Browser by Robert Cottrell

The Ruffian by Ian Leslie

Ridgeline by Craig Mod

Dearest by Monica McLaughlin

Why Is This Interesting? by Noah Brier and Colin Nagy

Lenny’s newsletter recs:

2PM by Webb Smith

Li’s Newsletter by Li Jin

Alex Danco’s Newsletter by Alex Danco

Turner’s Blog by Turner Novak

Next Big Thing by Nikhil Basu Trivedi

Big Technology by Alex Kantrowitz

The Profile by Polina Marinova

Everything by Nathan Baschez, Dan Shipper, Tiago Forte, and Adam Keesling

Not Boring by Packy McCormick

Illustration: Edith Zimmerman

Avsnitt(918)

16 Minutes on the News #6: Health Claims, Corporate Breaches

16 Minutes on the News #6: Health Claims, Corporate Breaches

with @julesyoo @smc90 This is episode #6 of our new show, 16 Minutes, where we quickly cover recent headlines of the week, the a16z way -- why they're in the news; why they matter from our vantage point in tech -- and share our experts' views on these trends as well. This week we cover, with the following a16z experts: health claims, insurance & big tech, and healthcare data liquidity -- with a16z bio partner Julie Yoo; Capital One data breach, cloud security, and corporate hacks -- with a16z operating partner for security Joel de la Garza; ...hosted by Sonal Chokshi.

12 Aug 201917min

16 Minutes on the News #5: Fed Real-time Payments, Death of Retail

16 Minutes on the News #5: Fed Real-time Payments, Death of Retail

with @astrange @jeff_jordan and @smc90 This is episode #5 of our new show, 16 Minutes, where we quickly cover recent headlines of the week, the a16z way -- why they're in the news; why they matter from our vantage point in tech -- and share our experts' views on these trends as well. This week we cover, with the following a16z experts: Federal Reserve real-time payment and settlement service FedNow, the U.S. payments rail, and fintech -- with a16z general partner Angela Strange; Barney's bankruptcy, the "death of retail", and ecommerce -- with a16z general partner Jeff Jordan; ...hosted by Sonal Chokshi.

11 Aug 201916min

16 Minutes on the News: The Opioid Crisis

16 Minutes on the News: The Opioid Crisis

with @jorgecondebio @vijaypande and @smc90 This is episode #4 of our new show, 16 Minutes, where we quickly cover recent headlines of the week, the a16z way -- why they're in the news; why they matter from our vantage point in tech -- and share our experts' views on these trends as well. This week we do a short but deep dive on the opioid crisis, given recent data around where and who was behind the manufacturing and distribution of specific opioids: How do opioids work, why these drugs? Who's to blame? What are other directions for managing pain -- and where could tech come in, even with the broader social, cultural, and structural context involved? Our a16z experts in this episode are a16z bio general partners Jorge Conde and Vijay Pande, in conversation with host Sonal Chokshi.

4 Aug 201918min

16 Minutes on the News: Fortnite, Esports, Gaming, and Entertainment

16 Minutes on the News: Fortnite, Esports, Gaming, and Entertainment

with @andrewchen @dcoolican and @smc90 This is episode #3 of our new show, 16 Minutes, where we quickly cover recent headlines of the week, the a16z way -- why they're in the news; why they matter from our vantage point in tech -- and share our experts' views on these trends as well. This week we do a short but deep dive on esports, given recent news of the inaugural Fortnite World Cup champion, and how this all fits into the broader trends in gaming, social networks, and the future of entertainment. Our a16z experts in this episode are general partner Andrew Chen and investing team partner D'Arcy Coolican, both of the consumer vertical, in conversation with host Sonal Chokshi.

4 Aug 201918min

16 Minutes on the News: Mobile Malware, Drug Pricing

16 Minutes on the News: Mobile Malware, Drug Pricing

with @martin_casado @jorgeconde @jayrughani and @smc90 This is episode #2 of our new show, 16 Minutes, where we quickly cover recent headlines of the week, the a16z way -- why they're in the news; why they matter from our vantage point in tech -- and share our experts' views on these trends as well. This week we cover, with the following a16z experts: . mobile malware and a recent report of a new kind in the wild and security in a post-perimeter world -- with a16z general partner Martin Casado; drug pricing given recent proposals on the table, sharing a lay of the land for why drug pricing is so damn hard, what is a medicine, and where tech comes in -- with a16z bio general partner Jorge Conde and market dev partner Jay Rughani; ...hosted by Sonal Chokshi. The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation.  This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly as well as unannounced investments in publicly traded digital assets) is available at https://a16z.com/investments/. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see https://a16z.com/disclosures for additional important information.

28 Juli 201919min

a16z Podcast: The Search for the Secret Metal that Powers All Our Devices

a16z Podcast: The Search for the Secret Metal that Powers All Our Devices

with Kurt House (@kurtzhouse), John Thompson, Connie Chan (@conniechan) and Hanne Tidnam (@omnivorousread) The exploration for and mining of certain metals has driven huge epochs of human civilization, from copper and iron to gold and diamonds. In this conversation, Kurt House, CEO and co-founder of KoBold Metals; John Thompson, professor of earth and geosciences at Cornell and longtime advisor to the mining industry; and Connie Chan, general partner for consume, talk with Hanne Tidnam about why it is that cobalt is suddenly one of the most important metals on the planet. Because this metal makes today's best batteries for phones, electric cars, and more, we have gone from little to enormous demand -- with that demand expected to only increase. This conversation covers the way technology is transforming how we find cobalt, and the mining industry as a whole. Along the way we touch on the science behind why exactly it is that cobalt is so damn good in batteries; what we know about what makes cobalt as a metal 'tick', where it's currently mined, and where it's most likely to be found; what data and knowledge used to drive mining; and what the new data sources, technologies, and techniques are today, from geophysical/ geochemical data, to agricultural information, to old boxes collected over centuries in the basements and attics of mining cos…. all of this to satisfy the incredible spike of demand for this material, as we enter a new age of battery metals.

23 Juli 201932min

16 Minutes on the News: Neuralink & Brain Interfaces, TikTok, FaceApp, iHeartRadio

16 Minutes on the News: Neuralink & Brain Interfaces, TikTok, FaceApp, iHeartRadio

with @vijaypande @conniechan @jpm25 and @smc90 Introducing our new podcast, 16 Minutes, a short news podcast where we cover the top headlines of the week, the a16z podcast way -- why are these topics in the news; what's real, what's hype from our vantage point; and what are our experts' quick takes on these trends? This is the first episode of the show, and this week we cover the below topics with the following experts: Neuralink's recent news/ event/ whitepaper and the trend of brain-computer interfaces -- with a16z bio general partner Vijay Pande TikTok video influencers and AI-driven media and commerce -- with general partner, consumer, Connie Chan FaceApp and privacy beyond national security -- with operating partner, security, Joel de la Garza iHeart Radio and direct listings -- with operating partner, corporate development, Jamie McGurk ...hosted by Sonal Chokshi. The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation.  This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly as well as unannounced investments in publicly traded digital assets) is available at https://a16z.com/investments/. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see https://a16z.com/disclosures for additional important information.

21 Juli 201920min

a16z Podcast: How To Get The Most From Your Board

a16z Podcast: How To Get The Most From Your Board

In this final of a 3-part series (which originally aired as YouTube videos) on working with venture investors, a16z Managing Partner Scott Kupor shares best practices for working with your board as it grows from just you, your co-founders and first investor all the way through the time when you are recruiting independent board members in preparation for going public. Want to learn more? Read Scott's book "Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It" (https://a16z.com/book/secrets-of-sand-hill-road/). The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation. This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments and certain publicly traded cryptocurrencies/ digital assets for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly) is available at https://a16z.com/investments/. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see https://a16z.com/disclosures for additional important information.

19 Juli 201921min

Populärt inom Business & ekonomi

framgangspodden
varvet
badfluence
svd-ledarredaktionen
uppgang-och-fall
rss-borsens-finest
avanzapodden
lastbilspodden
fill-or-kill
rss-dagen-med-di
rss-kort-lang-analyspodden-fran-di
affarsvarlden
borsmorgon
rikatillsammans-om-privatekonomi-rikedom-i-livet
kapitalet-en-podd-om-ekonomi
tabberaset
dynastin
borslunch-2
market-makers
rss-inga-dumma-fragor-om-pengar