The Long Story with Simon Owens cover image

The Long Story with Simon Owens

How 1440 scaled its newsletter to 4 million subscribers

Jan 23, 2025
55:30

My newsletter: https://simonowens.substack.com/

What’s the true monetary value of a newsletter subscriber? Tim Huelskamp knows the answer to that question. As the co-founder of the 1440 newsletter, he knows how many emails the average subscriber will open, how much money they’ll generate in ad revenue, and what it costs to acquire them.

It’s this ruthless approach to unit economics that allowed 1440 to grow to over 4 million subscribers, all without raising any VC investment. In a recent interview, Huelskamp walked me through the original idea behind the company, how he and his co-founders generated their first few thousand subscribers, and why 1440 is now expanding beyond the inbox into topic-based explainer content.

 

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