![]() The content that captures the highest reward possible on the platform " virality" is the one that optimizes for the lowest common denominator.Īdditionally, the decision of clicking or reading an article is seemingly inconsequential at the moment (although incredibly impactful in aggregate). It is no secret that social media algorithm optimizes for reach and engagement. Before Web2 and the emergence of content aggregators, we needed pass-time activities like baseball, and throughout the mid to late 2000s, social media emerged and gobbled up everyone's attention.Īs this flipping of attention took place, our content consumption diets deteriorated. Attention quickly went from being one of our most abundant resources to one of the most scarce ones. However, these objectives are entirely disconnected from what I strive to do being a great writer.Ī hypothesis for this disconnect (and the guiding principle behind building Substack) is the shift around how we value attention. Social media dismantled publications into articles, with each piece competing for the attention of readers against:Īs an author, to be competitive on social media, I am faced with a tough decision: I could either increase the frequency of articles I publish or increase the virality potential of each or, ideally, both. It is hard to understate the impact social media had on how content is created and distributed. To fix the current state of media, they hypothesized, you must change the business model from one that optimizes for your time to one that optimizes for your money. It was that they were doing an outstanding job at what they're supposed to: getting users to spend more time on the app. The underlying problem wasn't the algorithm not doing its job correctly or that moderation efforts were nascent. The answer to both these questions was a clear No. Hamish and Chris started riffing on how to solve the problem:Ĭould you fix it by changing the algorithm? He proceeded to explain that the problem was obvious, the solution, on the other hand, was not. Hamish did not find the essay as inspiring as Chris hoped he would. The essay was shaped by his 8-year journey running an anonymous social media app that peaked at over 300m registered accounts.Ĭhris shared early drafts of the essay with Hamish. The first essay Chris set out to write was on the current state of our media ecosystem. This includes spending time with family and friends reading and writing.įrom Chris's point of view, writing was one of the highest leverage use of his time through writing, he believed, authors could change peoples' worldviews, impact how they think, and see the world. When Chris left Kik in early 2017, he wanted to spend time enjoying the simple pleasures of life that he previously didn't have time for. Jairaj spent almost 6 years at Kik before co-founding Substack with Chris & Hamish. Jairaj, the third co-founder, joined Kik straight out of the University of Waterloo in 2012 (where he overlapped with Chris). While working on the book (2015), he joined Kik on a part-time basis. In 2014, Hamish got the attention of Elon Musk and joined Tesla as its lead writer.Ī year later, Hamish left his Tesla job to write a book about his experience Insane Mode. One of the companies he covered regularly was Tesla. He spent the better part of eight years at the company where he met his soon-to-be co-founders.īefore joining Kik, Hamish spent just shy of two years at Sarah Lacy's tech publication Pando Daily. From the genesis to the media landscape to how they built products.Ĭhris Best, Hamish McKenzie, and Jairaj Sethi started Substack in 2017, but their history dates back years before.Ĭhris co-founded the anonymous posting app Kik during his third year at the University of Waterloo (2010). I had a chance to sit down with Hamish to talk about everything Substack. I, in return, am freed to do the one thing I set out to do: writing. Substack handles everything from analytics to subscriptions (for paid newsletters) and even customer support. ![]() Substack is the platform that powers First 1000 and thousands of others. Yesterday the company crossed the 1,000,000 paid subscribers mark. Īt the time, Substack was still relatively new. By the end of May, I published the first case study on Roam Research, followed by Doordash. Throughout the lockdown, the idea of writing a Substack about getting your first 1000 customers took shape. I had more time than I knew what to do with. I'm locked in my old bedroom, with 4 months remaining to start my Master's program.
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