Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin Chris Best
210 snips
Apr 29, 2026 
Chris Best, tech entrepreneur and co-founder and CEO of Substack, talks about turning frustration with media into a new model for writer independence. He gets into email over algorithms, why free posts help paid subscriptions grow, speech battles and platform controversies, creator-owned audiences, and building tools for podcasts, video, and publishing.
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Lenny Rachitsky Turned Sponsorships Into Subscriber Value
- Chris Best highlights Lenny Rachitsky as a creator who bundled sponsor perks directly into a paid Substack subscription.
- Subscribers got valuable software deals and free pro plans, showing sponsorships can increase subscription value instead of interrupting it.
Twitter Helped Substack Grow Then Turned Hostile
- Substack first grew symbiotically with Twitter because writers could post links to long-form work and bring followers over.
- After Substack launched Notes, Elon Musk briefly made "Substack" unsearchable and slowed links, revealing the danger of relying on rival platforms.
Substack Differs By Combining Money Ownership And Growth
- Chris Best says Medium and Patreon miss what makes Substack powerful because neither fully combined ownership, monetization, and discovery.
- Medium paid writers like an algorithmic Netflix, while Patreon handled payments but long avoided helping creators grow audiences.