The Original Idea Behind Substack & Where Things Stand
A little look at what it means to write on Substack
Substack was born in 2017 - its 10th anniversary is literally around the corner!
While it started as a totally indie platform, it’s grown with its time (as it would) and brought to us new avenues, but also some constraints.
Let’s take a walk down memory lane
It’s always enlightening to learn about the background of organisations.
"Study the past, if you would divine the future." - Confucius
So, let’s recap where Substack all started out, courtesy of ChatGPT:
Nowadays?
Here’s some big news (laugh): Substack is no longer purely e-mail driven.
It’s a cool little place of the world wide web that amasses a serious amount of knowledge, fun and harbours connection globally.
And it’s glossy.
You’ll be finding anyone from essayists, YouTubers and journalists on here.
What’s not to love?
Despite a pretty impressive track records (2 million subscribers in 2023 following a steady growth curve - source: Statista guestimate below),
[Yes, you can put two and two together from Google returns + the Statista website.]
Substack is changing in a way that not everyone will be pleased with.
Nowadays, you’ve got to have some serious monetisation strategies under your belt if you want to make this your lucrative side gig.
According to ChatGPT, “Substack now has two cultures coexisting:”
But there is still a way forward to find and create your community and still get rewarded for your time, without a daily ceremony to the Algo-Gods (aka ‘follow 50 people, subscribe to 10 profiles & post 5 notes every single day’.)
It’s called organic growth, authentic exchanges, meaningful recommendations and passion-writing.
What’s your Substack style?