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I had the opportunity to sit down with Hamish McKenzie, co-founder of Substack. I’m so happy to bring you our conversation. It was really illuminating and feels like the best thing I can give you as a Substack writer or creator.
Many people don’t understand or know who the people behind Substack are. Hamish and all the people who work at Substack are some of the best, most idealistic people I’ve ever met. That goes across the board, everyone who works at Substack.
I’m very happy to bring Hamish to you today.
If you don’t know Hamish, he’s a New Zealander living in the Bay Area. He’s the co-founder of Substack and also a writer in his own right—like many people who work at Substack. He’s an incredible writer, author of Insane Mode: How Elon Musk's Tesla Sparked an Electric Revolution to End the Age of Oil, which came out in 2018. Before that, he was a journalist, the former lead writer of Tesla, and a reporter for the tech blog PandoDaily. He’s written for publications around the world on technology, business, pop culture, and politics.
So please enjoy my interview with Substack Co-founder Hamish Mckenzie.
HIGHLIGHTS:
On Substack’s origins:
“The core realization [was] that you needed to make the reader the customer instead of the product…Substack’s real product is the Substack model... undergirding the entire ecosystem.”
On the idealism behind Substack:
“[We thought] maybe we can build something here that could be an alternative to that other system that we think is corroding trust and corroding goodwill in society.”
On Substack’s current vision:
“The vision is as pure as it was the day it was born.”
On the power of small, engaged audiences:
“Even if it’s fifty people.. it can be nourishing and rewarding where you really feel like you’re writing to real people who are really reading your stuff and engaging.”
On the Substack model vs traditional social media:
“This more genuine, deeper connection where the economics can be productive with lower numbers is transformative in itself.”
Advice for new Substack writers with an existing platform:
“Tell people that you’re doing your work over here. Consolidate your work here.”
Advice for new Substack writers without an existing platform:
“Don't overthink it. Just start publishing, get feedback from people. Don’t panic if you’re writing to a small audience for a while.”
On the current media landscape:
“This is the best time there's ever been to start a one-man or one-woman media empire, or even just like your ongoing serial publication.”
03:20 Hamish’s time at Tesla and his book
07:34 Substack’s origin story
12:41 Substack’s vision and model
25:03 Advice for aspiring Substack writers
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