About this episode
This episode, part one in a two-part series on the Creator Economy, explores the process and economics behind creating an independent newsletter. In this candid conversation, host Lauren Murrow talks with four Substack writers—an artist, a technologist, a journalist, and a clinical researcher-turned-psychedelics scholar—about how to find and foster an audience, the calculus behind going paid versus unpaid, the pressure to produce, and financial benchmarks for making a living from newsletter writing. The pandemic has prompted a reckoning within traditional media and, in parallel, a surge in the newsletter ecosystem. On Substack, readership and active writers both doubled from January through April. The newsletter hosting platform now has more than 100,000 paying subscribers. This episode reveals the behind-the-scenes experiences of four newsletter creators, all of whom launched roughly within the past year: Software engineer Lenny Rachitsky , most recently a growth product manager at Airbnb, whose tech-focused dispatch is called Lenny’s Newsletter. Artist and writer Edith Zimmerman , creator of the Drawing Links newsletter, which chronicles her life and musings through comic-style illustrations. Zach Haigney , an acupuncturist and researcher whose newsletter, The Trip Report , explores the science, policy, and business behind medicinal psychedelics. And Patrice Peck , a freelance journalist—previously a staff writer at BuzzFeed—whose newsletter, Coronavirus News for Black Folks , highlights the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on the black community. Listen to the end of the episode to hear more about Patrice, Zach, Edith, and Lenny's top newsletter recommendations: Patrice’s newsletter recs: The Intersection by Adriana Lacy Beauty IRL by Darian Symone Harvin Carefree Black Girl by Zeba Blay Maybe Baby by Haley Nahman Zach’s newsletter recs: Stratechery by Ben Thompson Sinocism by Bill Bishop A Media Operator by Jacob Cohen Donnelly Off the Chain by Anthony Pompliano The Weekly Dish by Andrew Sullivan Edith’s newsletter recs: The Browser by Robert Cottrell The Ruffian by Ian Leslie Ridgeline by Craig Mod Dearest by Monica McLaughlin Why Is This Interesting? by Noah Brier and Colin Nagy Lenny’s newsletter recs: 2PM by Webb Smith Li’s Newsletter by Li Jin Alex Danco’s Newsletter by Alex Danco Turner’s Blog by Turner Novak Next Big Thing by Nikhil Basu Trivedi Big Technology by Alex Kantrowitz The Profile by Polina Marinova Everything by Nathan Baschez , Dan Shipper , Tiago Forte , and Adam Keesling Not Boring by Packy McCormick Illustration: Edith Zimmerman Stay Updated: Find a16z on X Find a16z on LinkedIn Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.