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2 years ago, I started a newsletter on Mailchimp called Tech Bound and built it out to +3,000 subscribers. 3 months ago, I decided to migrate to Substack. One w

2 years ago, I started a newsletter on Mailchimp called Tech Bound and built it out to +3,000 subscribers. 3 months ago, I decided to migrate to Substack. One week ago, I went from Substack to publishing on my own site. In this post, I explain why, what my current stack looks like, and a larger trend that has been in full swing for 2 years.

freshfey 6y ago
Thanks for the article! Can you describe how you implemented Memberful + Convertkit? Or did you follow a guide you could share? Thanks!
- iuguy 6y ago
  +1 for a Memberful and Convertkit how my site works post.
- kevin_indig 6y ago
  Thanks for reading! Memberful integrates directly with ConvertKit, so you don't have to do much besides setting up some list tags in ConvertKit (see here: https://memberful.com/help/third-party-integrations/convertkit/ https://memberful.com/help/third-party-integrations/convertk...).
jacamera 6y ago
Great read! The problems that you point out with social networks served as the motivation for my co-founder and I to create Readup [1]. We rank articles based on complete reads which slows down the overall pace considerably and cuts out a lot of noise since users cannot post or comment on articles they haven't really read. I'd be really curious to hear your thoughts on our proposed business model since it's based on compensating writers when Readup users read their articles to completion. In short, users pay $10/mo to use Readup, we keep $5 and divide the other $5 among the writers whose articles the user has read to completion during that month. You keep your own stack and there's nothing you have to do other than verify a Readup account with us so we know who you are and collect any money earned. Readup users can read your articles using our browser extensions or mobile apps (I just did! [2]). You can view the full pitch [3] on YouTube. [1] https://readup.com https://readup.com [2] https://readup.com/comments/kevin-indig/why-i-left-substack-and-the-email-renaissance https://readup.com/comments/kevin-indig/why-i-left-substack-... [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFw-OiK3zjI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFw-OiK3zjI
- bgroat 6y ago
  edit: brackets 40% to 49%) This is such a nitpick, but do the economics work at 40% (or even 49%)? It seems intuitively wrong to me that your value captured is greater than the content creators. If the economics don't work, feel free to instruct me to take a long walk on a short pier
  - jacamera 6y ago
    The economics very well could work at a different split! We chose a 50/50 split because we estimated that we could grow and survive on $5/mo per user. We're 100% open to shifting that split and plan on making all the economics transparent to users so they know where their money is going, both the cut that we take and how the writer take is split up. We don't want to over-promise on the revenue share at the beginning because we've got 3 key promises that we never want to compromise on but do limit us somewhat financially: - Absolutely no advertising. - Absolutely no selling/sharing of user data, even in aggregate or "anonymized". - Reach profitability ASAP so we don't have to fund raise endlessly and lose control of the company.
- kevin_indig 6y ago
  I side with @bgroat a bit, the unit economics seem a bit steep. I like the idea of filtering internet content in general for 100% completion. I think there is something there. I'm not sure if the incentive for creators is there, e.i. why would a creator share revenue for fully read articles? I think you found a value-add for the demand-side of the market but not the supply-side. That's something I'd iterate on :).
  - jacamera 6y ago
    The value-add for the supply-side is that you'd be getting paid when Readup users read your free articles on your own platform (like I just did with this article). We're sharing our revenue with you, not the other way around! Glad you like the completion filter! I've found myself reading articles just so I could leave a comment about how much I disagreed with the headline only to have my mind changed half way through. Taking the time to read really matters!

freshfey 6y ago

Thanks for the article! Can you describe how you implemented Memberful + Convertkit? Or did you follow a guide you could share? Thanks!

iuguy 6y ago
+1 for a Memberful and Convertkit how my site works post.
kevin_indig 6y ago
Thanks for reading! Memberful integrates directly with ConvertKit, so you don't have to do much besides setting up some list tags in ConvertKit (see here: https://memberful.com/help/third-party-integrations/convertkit/ https://memberful.com/help/third-party-integrations/convertk...).

jacamera 6y ago

Great read! The problems that you point out with social networks served as the motivation for my co-founder and I to create Readup [1]. We rank articles based on complete reads which slows down the overall pace considerably and cuts out a lot of noise since users cannot post or comment on articles they haven't really read. I'd be really curious to hear your thoughts on our proposed business model since it's based on compensating writers when Readup users read their articles to completion. In short, users pay $10/mo to use Readup, we keep $5 and divide the other $5 among the writers whose articles the user has read to completion during that month. You keep your own stack and there's nothing you have to do other than verify a Readup account with us so we know who you are and collect any money earned. Readup users can read your articles using our browser extensions or mobile apps (I just did! [2]). You can view the full pitch [3] on YouTube. [1] https://readup.com https://readup.com [2] https://readup.com/comments/kevin-indig/why-i-left-substack-and-the-email-renaissance https://readup.com/comments/kevin-indig/why-i-left-substack-... [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFw-OiK3zjI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFw-OiK3zjI

bgroat 6y ago
edit: brackets 40% to 49%) This is such a nitpick, but do the economics work at 40% (or even 49%)? It seems intuitively wrong to me that your value captured is greater than the content creators. If the economics don't work, feel free to instruct me to take a long walk on a short pier
- jacamera 6y ago
  The economics very well could work at a different split! We chose a 50/50 split because we estimated that we could grow and survive on $5/mo per user. We're 100% open to shifting that split and plan on making all the economics transparent to users so they know where their money is going, both the cut that we take and how the writer take is split up. We don't want to over-promise on the revenue share at the beginning because we've got 3 key promises that we never want to compromise on but do limit us somewhat financially: - Absolutely no advertising. - Absolutely no selling/sharing of user data, even in aggregate or "anonymized". - Reach profitability ASAP so we don't have to fund raise endlessly and lose control of the company.
kevin_indig 6y ago
I side with @bgroat a bit, the unit economics seem a bit steep. I like the idea of filtering internet content in general for 100% completion. I think there is something there. I'm not sure if the incentive for creators is there, e.i. why would a creator share revenue for fully read articles? I think you found a value-add for the demand-side of the market but not the supply-side. That's something I'd iterate on :).
- jacamera 6y ago
  The value-add for the supply-side is that you'd be getting paid when Readup users read your free articles on your own platform (like I just did with this article). We're sharing our revenue with you, not the other way around! Glad you like the completion filter! I've found myself reading articles just so I could leave a comment about how much I disagreed with the headline only to have my mind changed half way through. Taking the time to read really matters!