Dan Shipper and Nathan Baschez on Building Everything

Dan Shipper and Nathan Baschez are the founders of Everything, a bundle of business newsletters. What started as their two respective publications, Superorganizers and Divinatons, has expanded to include multiple newsletters.

A few things we discussed in this episode...

On revenue shares

When a user signs up for the Everything bundle and after all the fees are taken out, Everything sends a survey to the subscriber to ask them what newsletter was the primary reason they signed up. Whatever the answer is dictates which newsletter writer gets paid for that newsletter subscriber.

From there, each writer has their own agreement. Some are licensing deals whereas others are built entirely within the network. So, the revenue shares might be different depending on the situation.

The plan is to then resurvey the subscribers and determine whether the primary newsletter has changed. If it has, then the money gets allocated to this new newsletter. This way, the writer is rewarded for keeping the subscriber subscribed. 

On writing & audience development

Both Dan & Nathan agree that one of the most important things they can do is create the best possible writing possible. In their words, this is the best way that they can help create a successful publication.

They also see the current newsletters as a good way of helping to incubate different newsletters that may join the newsletter. An example, Shipper explained, could be adding a new productivity newsletter to the bundle. Superorganizers could then drive audience to it with the goal of getting people to convert.

Where it goes from here

The future looks a lot like where they are now, but with many more newsletters in the bundle. They could expand into industry verticals, such as waste management or space (their examples) to job roles (marketing and product management) and to newsletters focused on specific companies.

What they are also trying is finding the people that have that "twinkle in their eye" about a very specific topic. The idea is that, even if they don't write, they can be paired with great writers. It's unknown if it works, but the idea is that the team of expert/writer could create a great product.

Ultimately, they want to try and figure out ways to identify some of the "best business knowledge that's locked inside people's heads."