4 ms·

The idea that Substack have a moat seems a bit implausible, given how new they are. Have they finished displacing Medium yet? Who in turn only appeared a few y

• andy_ppp 5y ago
  Ask any writer you know about substack, they have mind share that the competition will struggle to catch. It's a moving target remember, first you have to launch, then you have to get a load of a-list writers on your platform, then you have to figure what new thing is going to get you users. This will take you at least 6 months maybe longer. By then Substack should be at least 6 months ahead of you maybe more.
• jacobr1 5y ago
  Substack is winning because of business model innovation, and also because of market timing. Their technology isn't really an advantage compared to legacy CMS platforms - how they are employing that technology is the difference. Medium went for a bottom-up approach, trying to monetize the content of the crowd. Substack is going for a top-down approach, grabbing writers with an existing large following and paying them top rates, which are justified by the conversion rates for their well-known creators. Normal people might not have heard of these companies, but niche audiences certainly follow some of the specific authors/columnists/influencers and are following them onto substack with paid subscriptions. Is that a moat, or will they jump to the next platform? A few have been poached by the NYT and other venues, so maybe the moat isn't that big.