2 months ago
Image Credit: Courtesy of Lenny Rachitsky
Lenny Rachitsky has much than 325,000 newsletter subscribers. He says he makes "significantly more" money from it than he erstwhile did arsenic a merchandise lead astatine Airbnb.
"It's a chaotic number that I ne'er imagined," he says. "I highly propose exploring this way if you're interested. There are downsides though: No PTO and nary 401(k) matching. No clip off, nary parental leave, nary of that. But it's beautiful sweet."
So how'd he do it?
Rachitsky's newsletter is called Lenny's Newsletter, and it's nan apical business newsletter connected Substack. It's chiefly targeted to group who activity successful merchandise development. (He now besides has a companion podcast.) He says he built nan newsletter successful chopped phases, starting pinch these:
- He tested retired ideas and mediums, and sewage his first fewer 100 subscribers.
- He became much intentional astir growth, including partnering pinch different newsletter writers to scope a broader audience.
- He drilled heavy into his audience, served them spot-on content, and drove integrated growth.
- He put up a paywall, and experimented pinch really to summation value.
In this section of nan Entrepreneur podcast Problem Solvers, Rachitsky walks done these phases successful detail, and explains what he's learned astir building a chart-topping newsletter.
Listen here, aliases publication nan unedited transcript below.
On a individual note: In our conversation, Rachitsky discusses nan value of hyper-focusing connected your assemblage — and that inspired maine to make a large alteration successful my ain newsletter. I'm already seeing nan benefits.
Here is nan transcript:
Jason Feifer:
Lenny, what's your background? So group understand wherever you're coming from.
Lenny Rachitsky:
I was primitively a package engineer, went to schoolhouse for machine science, ended up starting a company, truthful I was a laminitis for a bit, past turned into a merchandise manager, became merchandise head astatine Airbnb, and we sold our institution to Airbnb and past near that astir 3 years agone and unexpectedly went down this way of being a newsletter person, which now became a podcast personification and I've benignant of realized this is my 4th career, which I did not expect.
Jason Feifer:
Well, that's awesome. And you have… 300,000 newsletter subscribers?
Lenny Rachitsky:
325,000 arsenic of today, roughly. I don't cheque each day. No, I don't.
Jason Feifer:
I don't judge that because I look astatine my numbers each day.
Lenny Rachitsky:
No, I was... My sarcasm whitethorn person not person travel through. I cheque it often.
Jason Feifer:
All right, Lenny, you person nan benignant of standard successful your newsletter that group dream of because galore group commencement newsletters. Many entrepreneurs commencement newsletters and they conscionable don't cognize really to get anybody to subscribe to this and arsenic I look astatine your newsletter, I deliberation immoderate of nan things that I'm seeing present alert successful nan look of expectations. For one, it's conscionable called Lenny's Newsletter, which isn't descriptive of what you're going to get speech from a committedness that there's a feline named Lenny down it and besides that truthful overmuch of it is down a paywall, which I deliberation besides feels antagonistic to what group deliberation they request to do successful bid to thrust caller subscribers and audience. So let's commencement astatine nan opening and I'm really funny to understand really it is that you've built this up. You started nan newsletter when?
Lenny Rachitsky:
Started writing... I started penning connected Medium, actually, and that's benignant of nan way I followed because things conscionable started moving but I started astir 2019, early 2019, astir June I think.
Jason Feifer:
And astatine that constituent you had immoderate magnitude of pursuing that you were capable to person over, I presume because you had an assemblage from Medium.
Lenny Rachitsky:
Actually, not really. Medium doesn't really bring you, springiness you an audience. I deliberation that's why Medium's not doing great. You conscionable build this pursuing location that you can't do thing with. You can't email them, you can't show them easily, like, Hey, I'm complete present now. What started moving is I was tweeting a small bit, summaries of things I was penning connected Medium. So nan Twitter assemblage started to turn and that really helped a spot initially.
Jason Feifer:
Huh, truthful was that your seed? What was nan first measurement successful which you brought group into nan newsletter?
Lenny Rachitsky:
So there's benignant of these phases. Phase 1 was conscionable penning a fewer things that group look to like, but really possibly my first 1000 subscribers, they came from 2 impermanent posts. I wrote a impermanent station connected nan first information review, which happened to beryllium a akin assemblage to my newsletter. And I wrote a impermanent station connected Andrew Chen's blog who's now a partner astatine Andreessen Horowitz. He's a longtime benignant of maturation mind and truthful I was moving connected some, I showed it to him and he's like, "Hey, I want to write... I want to person this successful my newsletter." And those 2 brought maine to astir a 1000 positive a spot of tweeting that like, hey, I'm starting a newsletter, you should cheque this out. And I only had possibly 5,000 followers. It wasn't thing crazy, but that was nan first phase.
Jason Feifer:
So that's absorbing because location is overmuch talk of swaps of immoderate benignant of worth successful nan podcast ecosystem and nan newsletter ecosystem. And a point that group grapple pinch a batch is, well, okay, really do I get connected nan radar of aliases do immoderate benignant of activity pinch personification who is moving astatine standard and I'm not? If I person a mini newsletter, I can't really connection them anything. If I could plug their newsletter successful my newsletter, but who's, they're not going to attraction astir that because I'm not reaching that galore people. The solution that I'm proceeding to that is that you were conscionable providing worth to them successful nan shape of content, which saves them nan clip of having to constitute their ain posts someday and if they for illustration it, they've distributed it and immoderate number of their assemblage truthful is consenting to travel you over. Is that a strategy you find scales?
Lenny Rachitsky:
Not only scales, honestly, I deliberation that's nan guidelines of each successful newsletters. Podcast contented is conscionable nan value. You conscionable person to present worth to people. The measurement I deliberation astir it is you turn if you're consistently delivering value, consistency positive quality. And truthful successful this case, these folks conscionable wanted awesome contented that would beryllium useful to their assemblage and they don't request to switch pinch you. They're conscionable like, "Oh, this is great. You're doing each nan activity for me, I'm going to beryllium capable to stock pinch my assemblage and they're going to subscribe to my newsletter. That's awesome." So 100%, it's each astir conscionable delivering worth to people. We each talk astir this, but I've tried a batch of maturation strategies to turn nan newsletter and nan podcast, thing useful really isolated from conscionable consistently delivering worth complete and complete and complete and complete and over. Everything other conscionable pales successful comparison to conscionable doing that.
Jason Feifer:
What other does that look like, delivering value? And I could inquire that flatly, but alternatively I'm going to propulsion successful a benignant of possibly thought starter, which is successful nan podcast world, truthful galore podcasts are question and reply shows, which intends that location has to beryllium a impermanent and successful a measurement being a awesome impermanent is bringing worth to someone, but it often doesn't consciousness for illustration that's really nan guidance of nan speech because nan personification is ever interviewing personification connected nan show truthful that they selected you successful immoderate ways is really a gift to nan personification who is nan guest. It's difficult to framework yourself arsenic I americium going to bring worth by being a awesome impermanent connected your podcast moreover if that's true. It feels different successful newsletters because it is virtually nan accumulation of a portion of penning that either nan newsletter writer would've had to constitute themselves aliases it's it not for illustration conscionable nan mode of accumulation is different location truthful I'm funny what, successful nan newsletter space, it looks for illustration to supply worth to others extracurricular of penning a impermanent station for them? Or is it conscionable that?
Lenny Rachitsky:
Yeah.
Jason Feifer:
And you conscionable did a batch of penning wrong of different people's newsletters.
Lenny Rachitsky:
I deliberation it's really simple. If you deliberation astir what's nan jobs to beryllium done for your content, for immoderate you're producing, I deliberation there's, I deliberation astir it from newsletters, what are nan jobs that group want their newsletter to do for them? And I don't cognize really overmuch folks cognize astir those jobs to beryllium done framework, but fundamentally I think, roughly, group want either conscionable to beryllium entertained, conscionable want to person immoderate nosy to read, they want to, proposal connected making money I deliberation is simply a large bucket. I deliberation group want proposal conscionable to do, unrecorded amended aliases activity amended much effectively. And that's nan bucket I'm in. I deliberation that's nan bucket you're in. And past possibly there's conscionable staying for for illustration news, newsletters and podcasts and things for illustration that. Those are really, I think, nan 4 biggest buckets.
So you request to fig retired which of these 4 jobs are you going to do for your audience, and there's others I think. And past conscionable do it ace well. So for me, conscionable I want group to build. I want to thief them build amended products and turn their products and fig retired really to do this. And truthful I spent each my clip conscionable answering really actual questions group have. What is bully retention for a SaaS product? How do you get your first 1000 users? How do you prosecute your first merchandise manager? What is simply a bully activation milestone to track? I conscionable reply those questions very concretely and truthful that's conscionable intelligibly worth to people. I'm conscionable doing each this activity for them and conscionable giving them nan answers. And I complaint nan newsletters 150 bucks a year.
If you person 1 of these questions answered a year, that's, you get for illustration a 1000 x return connected that and nan podcast is similar. I help, I attraction connected conscionable actual tech akin to this podcast. I want to thief but turn my product, let's question and reply nan main merchandise serviceman astatine Figma. What did they do and study to thief build Figma into nan business it is today. And I enactment ace focused connected what do you really do? How do you really constitute retired your specs? How do you prioritize? How do you hire, what do you look for successful merchandise managers and things for illustration that.
Jason Feifer:
You described nan maturation of nan newsletter arsenic happening successful a mates phases, and past you talked astir shape 1 though, conscionable to beryllium clear, I deliberation a mates of nan things you conscionable said location astir apt happened successful later phases for illustration that you were charging $150 a twelvemonth for it. That astir apt didn't hap correct retired of nan gate, right?
Lenny Rachitsky:
No.
Jason Feifer:
And truthful fto maine conscionable rewind backwards a small spot and talk astir nan hyper-specific attraction of nan newsletter. It is incredibly tactical.
Lenny Rachitsky:
Yeah.
Jason Feifer:
And it is for a very circumstantial audience. How overmuch do you deliberation that that drove that benignant of growth? Because a batch of people's newsletters are possibly a small squishier, I'll admit excavation is simply a small squishier successful that I'm trying to speak to a broader assemblage group of group who place arsenic entrepreneurs, immoderate of whom really are business owners, immoderate of whom are not. And past I'm speaking to nan affectional components of them navigating change. I've recovered that to beryllium a difficult point to define. It's a small harder to explicate who nan assemblage is and truthful nan contented goes broader. And I've ever wondered if that is simply a people against maine because it's harder to explicate precisely really this newsletter fits into a hyper-specific audience's world. Did you deliberation astir that erstwhile you were launching this and really hyper attraction and a constrictive lens really could lead to a greater growth?
Lenny Rachitsky:
Yeah, absolutely. I deliberation it's really important and really powerful to beryllium focused. I think... I don't cognize if this is true, but I deliberation it's true, nan broader you are, nan much unthinkable you person to beryllium for anyone to care. If you're conscionable penning absorbing pontifications connected nan world, I deliberation you person to beryllium really, really incredibly insightful because there's truthful galore group doing that. Not to opportunity erstwhile you're ace narrow, you tin beryllium not great, but I deliberation nan barbell is simply a small little because that group is like, ohio wow, look astatine this contents for maine and this is useful and interesting. Ideally it's both. Ideally it's incredibly insightful and absorbing and a beautiful niche focus. Something I... So I decidedly realized I needed to beryllium focused, and I deliberation that's been really important but you person to not constrictive excessively overmuch because for me, I attraction mostly connected merchandise guidance and merchandise building.
But if that's each I wrote about, I would conscionable like, it'd beryllium truthful boring and I recovered that I had, I wanted to focus, basically, I focused connected things that I'm excited about, merchandise and growth, and past conscionable profession and startup worldly but it's benignant of this anchor tenant of merchandise building merchandise and past what's adjacent to that growth? Growing nan merchandise and past having a profession successful merchandise and starting companies. So I benignant of recovered this Venn sketch of interests, and I find that it's important to person a somewhat broader than conscionable ace focused because you conscionable get truthful saturated conscionable penning astir nan aforesaid point again and again. But yeah, to your point, group request to cognize what problem you're solving. We talked astir jobs to beryllium done. People request to deliberation about, okay, I person this problem successful building product. Who americium I going to go? What americium I going to look for? And nan much you tin conscionable wedge successful people's brain, "Oh, Lenny's newsletter is really bully for helping maine pinch merchandise problems, I'm going to spell cheque that out." That helps a lot.
Jason Feifer:
What was shape two?
Lenny Rachitsky:
So shape 1 was nan first 100 users, and that was conscionable me. I talked astir conscionable penning a mates things connected Medium, getting Twitter, tweeting astir it. Phase 2 was this first 1000 users, which is nan impermanent posts, I'd say. That's really I deliberation astir it.
Jason Feifer:
Got it. So what was shape three?
Lenny Rachitsky:
So that was astir a 1000 subscribers. Getting to 10,000 honestly was conscionable each week for 9 months, conscionable penning thing useful that group recovered useful. And truthful that was conscionable it. I sewage from a 1000 to 10,000 conscionable penning each week for 9 months, and it grew mostly through.
Jason Feifer:
Just each by itself? It grew organically?
Lenny Rachitsky:
It was connection of mouth, and that's what I find this grows these things. If it's good, group conscionable stock it. I find if your stuff's not growing, it's conscionable not useful capable to group and group aren't excited to stock pinch their friends and colleagues. So it's each connection of rima and past maine tweeting. Every clip I people something, I tweeted astir it and tweet a small summary of nan post. Something I've learned astir Twitter is you don't want to tweet a tease of your post. You don't want to conscionable springiness distant everything successful nan tweet, successful a tweet thread, conscionable summarize nan full station connected Twitter and past nexus to nan station astatine nan extremity of nan thread aliases towards nan top. So I did that, conscionable tweeting nan post.
Jason Feifer:
So that sounds counterintuitive because you would deliberation if you've fixed everything distant connected nan platform, what is someone's inducement to click?
Lenny Rachitsky:
Right, truthful what I deliberation happens, they travel you and they're like, "Oh, this guy's going to person absorbing things." And past you stock your station again and again. They're like, "Okay, let's spell subscribe to this thing." So I deliberation you deliberation of it, you should deliberation of arsenic a agelong word investment, conscionable group will find. Lenny has absorbing things. I will travel each his things yet versus like, oh, I request them to tease them to spell click into this point because group are, they're not going to click anything. They're conscionable like, each right, whatever, this freaking tweet, I don't care. Going to move connected to nan adjacent tweet.
Jason Feifer:
All right. So shape 3 past is defined by really nan marketplace speaking. You are putting retired consistently good, applicable content, and you are seeing that group are sharing it organically. That tells you that you're connected nan correct way and you get to 10,000 subscribers, which is great. So what's shape four?
Lenny Rachitsky:
So information past is erstwhile I started charging, I added a paid plan, and this was really an absorbing constituent where, truthful I near Airbnb, I had nary occupation for astir a year. Then besides COVID deed and Airbnb was successful large trouble. I benignant of assumed that I would person immoderate worth retired of my shares aft I near Airbnb being location 7 years and truthful I took each this clip disconnected assuming there'd beryllium a payoff someday, but COVID... There was a immense scare. Airbnb was connected nan brink of-
Jason Feifer:
I retrieve it.
Lenny Rachitsky:
... problems. Yeah, they had to return this cardinal dollar indebtedness and each kinds of stuff. So I was conscionable for illustration shit, I haven't had a occupation successful a year. I don't really... I want to effort to debar getting a occupation astatine a startup again. I want to spot if I tin do this newsletter thing. I called successful my project, debar getting a existent job, nan newsletter path, and immoderate "Hey, fto maine conscionable spot if I tin complaint for this point and make a surviving doing this and possibly make a 100 1000 a year, possibly someday a small spot more." So I started charging astir that time, astir 10,000 subscribers, and it conscionable kept growing. I recovered actually, erstwhile I started charging, maturation accelerated because I deliberation group presume there's much worth location that I'm like, "Oh wow, this guy's charging for this? It must beryllium bully moreover if it's free." So group subscribe to nan free newsletter astatine a higher complaint arsenic soon arsenic I started charging, which amazed me.
Jason Feifer:
That is truthful interesting. Wait a second, let's break that down. So you put a paywall, and really overmuch of nan contented were you putting down nan paywall?
Lenny Rachitsky:
So I constitute a station each week. If you pay, you get it each week. If you don't pay, you get it erstwhile a month. So erstwhile each 4 issues is free. It goes to everyone.
Jason Feifer:
So that's... Right, truthful that's a... I mean, that's beautiful significant. If you're conscionable getting nan free version, you're only getting thing from you...
Lenny Rachitsky:
Once a month.
Jason Feifer:
Once a month, that's not a batch and you're uncovering that people, erstwhile it's down nan paywall, spot it, comprehend it arsenic being of much worth and commencement subscribing to nan paid type astatine a higher complaint aliases nan free type astatine a higher rate. And past they person from nan free version.
Lenny Rachitsky:
The latter. The free type and past what I do is erstwhile I people a paid post, I nonstop a peek to nan free database to proceed reminding them of really overmuch worldly location is that they're missing. And there's decidedly downsides to adding paid wall, because 75% of my worldly is hidden, aliases astir of it is hidden and truthful you person little chance to turn nan point but I deliberation these peeks, wherever you peek astatine "Hey, here's a point you're missing" really helps. And past conscionable complete time, there's this affinity personification shared of conscionable for illustration you person these lakes and you person these rivers, and nan reservoir is nan free users and nan rivers, you're getting them to beryllium paid.
And truthful you person this reservoir that you're building up, and there's a batch of worth successful building up this reservoir wherever you person each these group you could transportation complete time, and it's okay if you transportation them later, they're there. They support subscribing and you could ever upsell them and like, "Hey, you should really subscribe. You're missing retired a batch of bully stuff." So fundamentally each period I constitute some, I attraction connected penning thing that a mostly of group would find useful, and that often drives a batch of paid subscribers each clip I people 1 of those.
Jason Feifer:
Were you ever tense astir either being truthful fierce pinch nan paywall aliases emotion for illustration you had to summation nan magnitude that you were producing because you were charging? I mean, $150 a twelvemonth ain't nothing. You know, you could subscribe to Entrepreneur mag for considerably less. So you're, and you're producing only erstwhile a week. How did you fig retired what nan correct value and worth prop was?
Lenny Rachitsky:
Yeah, it was hard. I did consciousness for illustration I was crazy to complaint much than Netflix for 4 emails a month. And truthful what I did is I looked astatine nan pricing connected Substack, looked astatine what everyone other was charging. The proposal I ever sewage is complaint much than you deliberation you should charge. Everyone was like, "Oh, 5 bucks a month, that sounds really reasonable." And I'll conscionable start, which is nan minimum I deliberation Substack moreover allows. So I was pushing myself to complaint much than I thought I should charge. And past conscionable astir I eyeballed what are akin newsletters charging? Still I was like, this is crazy. Who's going to salary $15 a period for writing... For 4 emails? So what I did is erstwhile I launched, I pitched, if you subscribe, you'll get an induce to a exclusive organization of newsletter subscribers wherever you tin each chat and study from each other.
So I announced that and I didn't really person thing astatine that point, but astir 3 months in, I launched it because I promised I would and that really ended up being incredibly successful, possibly nan point I'm astir proud of, because it's this thriving organization of really absorbing smart group that want to study and get amended and they're conscionable helping each other, and I'm not successful nan mediate of that. I conscionable get retired of nan measurement and fto them thief each other. And truthful that came retired of conscionable precisely what you said aliases conscionable felt for illustration this is simply a batch of money to complaint for a mates emails aliases for 4 emails. And it ended up being a really bully push for maine to deliberation a small spot bigger.
Jason Feifer:
So that besides feels counterintuitive, I person to say, because I would deliberation and speak conscionable astir virtually really I thought astir it. I've thought if group subscribe to my newsletter and they travel maine connected societal and perceive to a podcast aliases whatever, past nan narration is pinch me. And to nan grade that I tin create thing typical beyond nan contented that I produce, it's immoderate benignant of relationship aliases entree to me. The problem pinch that, of course, is that's not scalable successful immoderate way. And truthful nan point that I've ever grappled pinch is really tin I perchance make immoderate scalable type of entree to me? I don't person nan answer, which is why I haven't launched anything. But what I'm really willing successful what you've done is that you really did nan opposite. You took yourself retired of it successful a way. I mean, I'm judge that you prosecute successful location successful immoderate way, but that's not nan main trading point. It's not entree to Lenny and each nan much astonishing that you've done this because your full ecosystem is your name.
Lenny Rachitsky:
Yeah.
Jason Feifer:
Again, this is not, this is Lenny's newsletter, truthful show maine astir that.
Lenny Rachitsky:
Yeah, I deliberation that comes from immoderate imposter syndrome and conscionable a modesty wherever I conscionable cognize I don't person each nan answers. There are galore smarter group than I. The past point I want is for group to consciousness for illustration I'm going to person each nan answers for them and truthful it was conscionable precisely for illustration I said pinch nan community, I'm conscionable like, location are specified smart group reference this thing. I consciousness for illustration if I could conscionable link them, they'll find each different and thief each other. And I dislike nan thought that it's called Lenny's Newsletter because I don't want to travel crossed arsenic I'm this beacon of answers. I really tried to rename it for a while. The only logic I called it this is I was conscionable signing up for Substack pinch nary scheme of wherever it was going, and that was their default proposal of what to telephone your newsletter, conscionable your first sanction and your newsletter.
Jason Feifer:
That's amazing.
Lenny Rachitsky:
And I couldn't deliberation of thing better, and I'm conscionable like, God damn, I request a existent sanction for this point and now it's excessively late, and now I'm conscionable leaning into it. But I'm conscionable like, I'm ace stuck pinch it. Like everything's now Lenny's blank.
Jason Feifer:
Right. I mean, you are talented pinch a sanction that is acquainted but feels a small quirky and friendly. So I consciousness for illustration Jason's Newsletter doesn't person nan aforesaid ringing to it. There's thing astir nan sanction Lenny that I deliberation helps.
Lenny Rachitsky:
That's cool. Never thought astir that. Thank you.
Jason Feifer:
Yeah. Oh, aliases acknowledgment to presumably your parents, whoever selected Lenny, unless it was you.
Lenny Rachitsky:
Yeah, I moved from Russia. They gave maine this name, but it, there's a variety and I simplified it.
Jason Feifer:
So okay. Now we're describing, if I'm reasoning astir nan phases, we're describing thing that sounds beautiful acquainted to nan newsletter that I spot correct now. What else? And I cognize we're coming up connected clip here, truthful conscionable what other are you doing astatine this constituent to thrust maturation speech from conscionable nutrient awesome contented and person created a community?
Lenny Rachitsky:
So I will opportunity this, I deliberation it's really nan champion clip successful history to motorboat a newsletter because... And to turn a newsletter and it's nan easiest clip to turn a newsletter because of this 1 characteristic that Substack launched precocious that has been a immense crippled changer for me, and I deliberation group are measurement nether appreciating this and it's this characteristic wherever you tin urge different newsletters wrong Substack. So erstwhile personification signs up for me, I urge 10 different newsletters that I emotion that you tin quickly subscribe to. You conscionable cheque check boxes and you're subscribed.
So pinch that, different newsletters urge my newsletter. There's astir a 1000 different newsletters now that are recommending my newsletter erstwhile you motion up for their newsletter, which now leads to, and this is really nan adjacent shape of my growth, is now astir 80% of my subscribers travel from this 1 characteristic because I'm being recommended by their newsletters and truthful if you constitute awesome things that group find valuable, newsletters will urge you and it'll lead to this benignant of trajectory. I person this floor plan that I shared connected Twitter, conscionable for illustration this stone lucky instrumentality that conscionable started arsenic soon arsenic they launched this feature. So I deliberation that's a really, really important characteristic successful nan trajectory of newsletters, and I deliberation group should beryllium much excited astir it.
Jason Feifer:
Holy cow. That's really absorbing and also, we had emailed astir this earlier signaling this. I'm not connected Substack and truthful can't entree that and disappointment proceeding nan occurrence of it but I wonderment if, and I conscionable wonderment if you person immoderate penetration here, whether aliases not you've done this yourself astir reaching group crossed ecosystems? Because nan point that nan occurrence of nan Substack proposal strategy tells maine is that location is not a complete saturation of newsletter problems for people, but alternatively there's a find of newsletter problems for people. People are consenting to subscribe to thing new, nan problem is that they didn't cognize what to subscribe to, and truthful they needed thing from a trusted root to beryllium put successful beforehand of them. Have you experimented pinch thing other pinch moving pinch newsletter writers to waste and acquisition promotions wrong of their newsletters aliases immoderate different measurement to utilize nan world of newsletters to effort to scope audiences extracurricular of your own?
Lenny Rachitsky:
Yeah, I've done it all. I've tried everything. Nothing does thing isolated from consistency, quality, solving problems for group being, creating worth for immoderate nan problem they have. And past there's 1 characteristic that Substack has, thing other has made a dent. If you conscionable look astatine nan maturation trajectory of my newsletter, and if you look for, I don't know, if you Google Lenny San Twitter newsletter milestone, you'll astir apt find nan floor plan and there's for illustration nan consecutive statement and nan blips wrong nan line, conscionable for illustration they've travel from these random experiments, but they don't matter successful nan strategy of things. It conscionable each grows from providing worth to group aliases they're conscionable like, you're solving a problem for them, there's jobs to beryllium done I talked astir and doing it again and again and again for years. And past there's a 1 characteristic from Substack that conscionable changes nan game.
Jason Feifer:
Hmm. All right, Lenny, finally, I stake a batch of group who are listening are wondering, and you don't person to springiness maine an nonstop answer, but really overmuch of money is he making disconnected of this thing? So I mean, if you tin stock astatine slightest roughly, what percent of your 325,000 and counting followers are really paying you?
Lenny Rachitsky:
I make importantly much than I made astatine Airbnb arsenic a elder merchandise manager, banal included, importantly more. I'm not going to stock nan percentage, because past group tin activity backwards and fig retired nan number.
Jason Feifer:
Right, exactly.
Lenny Rachitsky:
And I consciousness for illustration when.... Yeah, I consciousness for illustration when-
Jason Feifer:
I was inviting a ballpark, but-
Lenny Rachitsky:
Yeah, yeah. It's a chaotic number that I ne'er imagined I could make from conscionable penning a newsletter and past nan podcast built connected apical of that. So it's beautiful bonkers. Highly propose exploring this way if you're interested. There are downsides though. No BTO and nary 401(k) matching, nary clip off, nary parental leave, nary of that but it's beautiful sweet.
Jason Feifer:
Lenny, this is awesome. Congratulations and acknowledgment for stepping america through.
Lenny Rachitsky:
Thanks man. Thanks for having maine on.
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