This Week in Startups E1016: Substack CEO & Co-Founder Chris Best empowers writers via his email newsletter platform, shares insights on driving change in the attention economy, raising $15M from a16z, providing value to retain talent & more
Jan 7, 2020
Chris Best, Co-founder and CEO of Substack, shares his journey of empowering writers through his email newsletter platform. He discusses the pitfalls of ad-driven algorithms by major tech giants and Substack's role in remedying these issues. Best dives into securing a $15M investment from a16z while having only three employees, exploring the shift in the attention economy toward quality subscriptions. He also highlights the challenges of managing content and the potential for collaboration among writers, all while questioning the future landscape of content creation.
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Successful Writers
- Successful Substack writers possess unique perspectives and voices.
- Their audience values their distinct point of view and is willing to pay for their content.
$15M Series A
- Substack secured a $15M Series A from Andreessen Horowitz with only three employees.
- They weren't actively seeking funding but connected with Andrew Chen, leading to the investment.
Flipping of the Attention Economy
- Chris Best believes the attention economy is flipping, as attention becomes the scarcest resource.
- People are willing to pay for better content to regain control of their attention.