Read on Twitter
Just watched a really insightful chat between @lennysan
and @david_perell.
@lennysan was part of the PM/Growth team at Airbnb for 7 years. His newsletter has 28,000 subscribers + 1,400 paid subs, netting him around $500,000 annually (by my napkin math)
- a few highlights
and @david_perell.
@lennysan was part of the PM/Growth team at Airbnb for 7 years. His newsletter has 28,000 subscribers + 1,400 paid subs, netting him around $500,000 annually (by my napkin math)
- a few highlights
"I have no idea what I'm doing" is literally what @lennysan
said at the start of his webinar.
But he has several actionable insights that are well worth taking note of and following:
said at the start of his webinar.
But he has several actionable insights that are well worth taking note of and following:
@lennysan saw a proof of concept of his insights by posting on Medium first - his post on his lessons from Airbnb is one of the top 300 most clapped posts. https://marker.medium.com/what-seven-years-at-airbnb-taught-me-about-building-a-company-e1d035d49c56
Lenny used Twitter to keep testing ideas and grow his audience.
1 tweet led to 500 subs early on in the newsletter's life.
He advocated for building your audience in parallel with creating content and testing your ideas out!
1 tweet led to 500 subs early on in the newsletter's life.
He advocated for building your audience in parallel with creating content and testing your ideas out!
Guest posting was huge in the early days of the newsletter.
@lennysan highlighted specific guest posts that led to hundreds of subs on his newsletter.
One was a guest post for @andrewchen's blog (500 subs). Another was for @firstround's blog (1500 subs).
@lennysan highlighted specific guest posts that led to hundreds of subs on his newsletter.
One was a guest post for @andrewchen's blog (500 subs). Another was for @firstround's blog (1500 subs).
@lennysan highlighted 2 posts that really drove his subscriber count.
The first was a post series on marketplaces, where he did in-depth research and really dug into how marketplace companies succeeded with their particular models - https://www.lennyrachitsky.com/p/how-to-kickstart-and-scale-a-marketplace
The first was a post series on marketplaces, where he did in-depth research and really dug into how marketplace companies succeeded with their particular models - https://www.lennyrachitsky.com/p/how-to-kickstart-and-scale-a-marketplace
Why did he think that did really well?
One reason is the primary research he did (and does).
@lennysan spoke to current and fmr execs at Uber, Thumbtack, TaskRabbit and others directly.
One way he differentiates himself is with primary research - not many newsletters do that.
One reason is the primary research he did (and does).
@lennysan spoke to current and fmr execs at Uber, Thumbtack, TaskRabbit and others directly.
One way he differentiates himself is with primary research - not many newsletters do that.
Another reason ties into the 2nd post that really drove his subscriber count.
@lennysan loves looking at patterns vs. specific examples.
It doesn't matter what one company's strategy is bc (for him) that's not actionable.
Multiple examples create patterns and that's useful.
@lennysan loves looking at patterns vs. specific examples.
It doesn't matter what one company's strategy is bc (for him) that's not actionable.
Multiple examples create patterns and that's useful.
That 2nd post was titled:
"How the biggest consumer apps got their first 1,000 users" https://www.lennyrachitsky.com/p/how-the-biggest-consumer-apps-got
"How the biggest consumer apps got their first 1,000 users" https://www.lennyrachitsky.com/p/how-the-biggest-consumer-apps-got
@lennysan's #1 takeaway from his newsletter's success?
"Deliver consistent value to people."
This was so important he mentioned it 3 times in his presentation!
"Deliver consistent value to people."
This was so important he mentioned it 3 times in his presentation!
@lennysan's top rules for his newsletter posts:
1. Make it actionable and practical.
2. Talk about things he knows, and loop in experts for things he doesn't.
3. Add something new to the conversation.
1. Make it actionable and practical.
2. Talk about things he knows, and loop in experts for things he doesn't.
3. Add something new to the conversation.
Lenny also has a constant flow between Twitter and his newsletter.
He frequently pulls out juicy bits from posts, throws them on Twitter to get followers interested so they'll read the full thing or think of subscribing.
Tweets that do well also serve as fodder for new posts.
He frequently pulls out juicy bits from posts, throws them on Twitter to get followers interested so they'll read the full thing or think of subscribing.
Tweets that do well also serve as fodder for new posts.
@lennysan's writing process was really cool to see -
1. Audience submits questions through a Google Form tied to a Google Sheet.
2. He throws qs in an ongoing @coda_hq doc that he maintains.
3. As he works on a post, he throws ideas and links together before fleshing them out.
1. Audience submits questions through a Google Form tied to a Google Sheet.
2. He throws qs in an ongoing @coda_hq doc that he maintains.
3. As he works on a post, he throws ideas and links together before fleshing them out.
Some of @lennysan's diistribution strategies:
1. Deliver value to people.
2. Use free posts for growth.
3. Repurpose content.
4. Guest posts are great (good for taking a break since he's writing weekly for a paying audience).
1. Deliver value to people.
2. Use free posts for growth.
3. Repurpose content.
4. Guest posts are great (good for taking a break since he's writing weekly for a paying audience).
@lennysan's research process was also super actionable:
1. Make a wishlist of target companies.
2. Find warm intros, or cold DM/email.
3. Throw raw interview answers into a doc.
4. Stare at it for a while to let post ideas come together.
5. Turn it into a story or framework.
1. Make a wishlist of target companies.
2. Find warm intros, or cold DM/email.
3. Throw raw interview answers into a doc.
4. Stare at it for a while to let post ideas come together.
5. Turn it into a story or framework.
"You don't need to know everything to share value.
Just explain it clearly and make it easy to understand." - @lennysan
Just explain it clearly and make it easy to understand." - @lennysan
For new newsletter creators, @lennysan has a great framework to think about sharing value.
When your audience reads you, they should think -
1. Entertain me.
2. Make me smarter.
3. Make me money.
4. Keep me informed.
5. Make me feel like I'm part of something bigger.
When your audience reads you, they should think -
1. Entertain me.
2. Make me smarter.
3. Make me money.
4. Keep me informed.
5. Make me feel like I'm part of something bigger.
Bonus tips/recs from @lennysan for maintaining a weekly, high-value newsletter with 1000s of subs:
1. @centered_app
2. @magicmind
3. @Grammarly
4. Schedule deep work time
5. Email yourself a copy of each post - view it on multiple devices (he does this with every post)
1. @centered_app
2. @magicmind
3. @Grammarly
4. Schedule deep work time
5. Email yourself a copy of each post - view it on multiple devices (he does this with every post)
Alright, if you got all the way here, I'm done!
Here's a link to the full deck from @lennysan's presentation: http://bit.ly/lennysnewsletterwriting
Can't wait for more newsletter strategies and insights from the @david_perell team!
Here's a link to the full deck from @lennysan's presentation: http://bit.ly/lennysnewsletterwriting
Can't wait for more newsletter strategies and insights from the @david_perell team!
