Is Sub-Stack a Dying Business?

Doomberg, the top-earning finance publication on Substack, is led by a cartoon chicken that previously worked in heavy industry. Okay, so it wasn’t the chicken that worked in heavy industry—but its anonymous creators, with a background in hard sciences and energy, did. They chose the green chicken as their publication’s logo because they want it to be instantly recognizable on Twitter, which they use as their main marketing channel (it is, after all, the bird app). The plucky avian also fits with the cheeky “defensive pessimism” of Doomberg’s ethos, as captured in its tagline: “Chicken Little Gets a Terminal.” 

Doomberg is a small team (“you could count us on one hand and have a few fingers left over”) with one man as the lead writer. I talked to that man for this episode, but he used a voice modifier to protect his identity. He’s worried about being discovered by his peers and prefers for people’s focus to be on his analysis rather than his personality.

And what of that analysis? Well, it’s strong-minded, intelligent, and entertaining, featuring bold statements, such as predicting the onset of a “global famine of historic proportions” and classifying “nuclear waste alarmism” as a way to “rob humanity of carbon-free energy.” The aim, they say at Doomberg, is to be “provocative but not polarizing.” 

I’ve talked to hundreds of writers over the years at Substack, but none has applied quite so much rigor to growing a media business from scratch as Doomberg. For Doomberg, the content creation is just a small (but important) piece of the process. They spend just as much time obsessing about brand, technology, and operations. For any Substack strategy nerds, this episode is a must-listen.

Show notes

Subscribe to Doomberg on Substack

Find Doomberg on Twitter

The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier

Head coach of the University of Michigan football, Jim Harbaugh

We Are About to Run Out of Some Stuff, June 15, 2021

Farmers on the Brink, Mar. 26, 2022 [discussed at 26:21]

[02:17] The mindset of Doomberg 

[03:36] The path to Doomberg

[05:28] Previous consulting business

[06:50] Doomberg’s five strategy pillars for success

[07:42] The bin of great writing never read

[09:43] Brand sketches and objective

[11:13] What type of writer are you?

[13:38] The people behind Doomberg

[15:53] The customer journey

[17:43] The media business is dying

[20:37] Editorial integrity 

[23:05] Twitter is a toxic hell

[27:00] On being provocative, not polarizing 

[30:11] The state of leadership today 

[33:00] Corporate elitism 

[37:21] The future of consumption

[38:22] Enjoying personal sovereignty

[41:00] Starting a media business from zero

The Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hanne Winarsky, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, content production by Hannah Ray, and production support from Bailey Richardson. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro.

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