Income, Goals, and Next-Year Plans

Mostly Growth on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MostlyGrowth

Mostly Growth on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mostly-growth/id1842238102

Mostly Growth on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3KDtaLaXx1obFp5PUhZ6V3

In this year-end episode of Mostly Growth, CJ Gustafson, Kyle Poyar, and Ben Hillman reflect on what it actually takes to build a modern media business around newsletters and podcasts. They unpack CJ’s first year going full-time, comparing creative intuition versus metric-driven operating styles, and discuss what content truly drives growth. The conversation also covers distribution dynamics, the emotional reality of unsubscribes and burnout, and closes with a candid look at monetization, team building, and the tradeoffs between simplicity and scale.

—

SPONSORS:

Pulley is the cap table management platform built for CFOs and finance leaders who need reliable, audit-ready data and intuitive workflows, without the hidden fees or unreliable support. Switch in as little as 5 days and get 25% off your first year: https://pulley.com/mostlymetrics

Metronome is real-time billing built for modern software companies. Metronome turns raw usage events into accurate invoices, gives customers bills they actually understand, and keeps finance, product, and engineering perfectly in sync. That’s why category-defining companies like OpenAI and Anthropic trust Metronome to power usage-based pricing and enterprise contracts at scale. Focus on your product — not your billing. Learn more and get started at https://www.metronome.com

—

LINKS:

Mostly Metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com

CJ on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/

Growth Unhinged: https://www.growthunhinged.com/

Kyle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-poyar/

Slacker Stuff: https://www.slackerstuff.com/

Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/slackerstuff/

https://www.growthunhinged.com/p/deep-research-for-gtm

https://www.growthunhinged.com/p/2025-state-of-b2b-gtm-report

https://www.mostlymetrics.com/p/presenting-the-state-of-the-agentic-financial-stack

https://www.mostlymetrics.com/p/the-great-ai-arr-illusion

https://www.mostlymetrics.com/p/presenting-the-2025-tech-stack-report

https://www.mostlymetrics.com/p/download-the-annual-planning-bible

https://www.growthunhinged.com/p/how-to-sell-annual-plans

https://www.growthunhinged.com/p/get-recommended-by-chatgpt

https://www.growthunhinged.com/p/gtm-vibecoding-ideas

https://www.growthunhinged.com/p/how-to-use-ai-agents-for-marketing

—

RELATED EPISODES:

We get roasted for swag and drop some GTM gold

https://youtu.be/uubf_8al95w

Do vanity plates bring serious business?

https://youtu.be/Cm1rubFb-kg

Pricing in the Real World: Babies, Bots, and Billing

https://youtu.be/T1cjFSZR0k0

—

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00:00 Preview and Intro

00:01:52 Sponsors — Pulley | Metronome

00:04:12 Action Figure Swag and Year-in-Review Setup

00:05:47 Going Full-Time and the First-Year Reality Check

00:07:24 Writing Schedules, Creative Work, and Time Optimization

00:09:16 Writing Speed, Craft, and the Myth That Time Equals Quality

00:10:51 Perfectionism vs. Throughput in Newsletter Writing

00:13:03 Creator Burnout, Motivation, and Engagement Anxiety

00:14:08 Playing the Long Game vs. Obsessing Over Metrics

00:15:42 Best Work of the Year and High-Leverage Content Bets

00:17:55 Big Research Reports as Career-Defining Projects

00:19:19 When Memes Outperform Deep Work

00:19:52 LinkedIn Algorithms vs. Content Quality

00:20:51 Writing for the Feed vs. Writing to Think

00:22:03 Optimizing LinkedIn Profiles for Credibility

00:23:47 Subscriber Growth, Audience Quality, and Churn Reality

00:27:20 Reports and Research as Growth Engines

00:28:37 Tactical “How-To” Content That Actually Converts

00:30:21 Tactical Value Beats Sounding Smart

00:30:40 Building a Team and Scaling Beyond a Solopreneur

00:32:05 Simplicity vs. Scale in Early Business Decisions

00:35:37 Avoiding Boredom and Shiny Object Syndrome

00:37:12 Balancing Writing, Consulting, and Energy

00:37:54 Making the Leap Financially as a Creator

00:39:01 Subscriptions vs. Advertising as the Real Business Model

#MostlyGrowthPodcast #CreatorEconomy #IndependentCreator #NewsletterBusiness #YearInReview

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cjgustafson.substack.com