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Substack

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Substack Inc.
Type of site
Subscription platform
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California,U.S.
Created by
  • Chris Best
  • Hamish McKenzie
  • Jairaj Sethi
RevenueUS$9 million(2021)[1]
Employees94 (June 2022)[2]
URLsubstack.com
CommercialYes
Launched2017;7 years ago(2017)[3][4]
Current statusLive

Substackis an Americanonline platformthat provides publishing, payment, analytics, and design infrastructure to supportsubscriptionnewsletters.[5]It allows writers to send digital newsletters directly to subscribers.[6][7]Founded in 2017, Substack is headquartered inSan Francisco.[8]

History

[edit]

Substack was founded in 2017 by Chris Best, the co-founder ofKik Messenger;Jairaj Sethi, a head of platform and principal developer atKik Messenger;and Hamish McKenzie, a formerPandoDailytech reporter.[9][10]Best and McKenzie describe Ben Thompson'sStratechery,a subscription-based tech and media newsletter, as a major inspiration for their platform.[5]Best is chief executive as of March 2019.[11]

Content

[edit]

Substack users include journalists, subject-matter experts, and media platforms.[12][13][14]Among the high-profile writers to have used the platform are Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist and authorGlenn Greenwald;Seymour Hersh;culture criticAnne Helen Petersen;music essayistRobert Christgau;and food writerAlison Roman.[15]The New York Timescolumnist Mike Isaac argued in 2019 that companies like Substack see newsletters as a more stable means to maintain readers through a more direct connection with writers.[11]In 2020,The New Republicsaid there was an absence of local news newsletters, especially in contrast to the large number of national-level political newsletters.[16]As of late 2020, large numbers of journalists and reporters were coming to the platform, driven in part by the long-term decline in traditional media (there were half as many newsroom jobs in 2019 as in 2004).[17]Around that time,The New Yorkerwrote that while "Substack has advertised itself as a friendly home for journalism, [...] few of its newsletters publish original reporting; the majority offer personal writing, opinion pieces, research, and analysis."[18]It described Substack's content moderation policy as "lightweight", with rules against "harassment, threats, spam, pornography, and calls for violence; moderation decisions are made by the founders".[18]

In 2019, Substack added support for podcasts and discussion threads among newsletter subscribers.[19][20]

Major writers on Substack include historianHeather Cox Richardson,tech journalistsCasey Newton[21]andEric Newcomer,[22]journalistMatthew Yglesias,[23]economistsGlenn LouryandEmily Oster,linguistJohn McWhorter,journalistsMatt TaibbiandBari Weiss,[24]and authorsDaniel M. Lavery,George Saunders,Blake Nelson,Chuck Palahniuk,[25]Marianne Williamson,[26]Salman Rushdie,[27]Tui T. Sutherland,[28]David Bentley Hart[29]andSkottie Young.[30]

As of November 2021, the platform said it had more than 500,000 paying subscribers, representing over one million subscriptions.[31]Substack announced in January 2022 that it would begin private Beta testing video on its platform.[31]

In April 2023, Substack implemented a Notes feature, which allows users to publish and repost short-form content. This microblogging feature was compared toTwitter,and many outlets considered it to be a response tochanges at Twitter under the ownership of Elon Musk.[32][33]The launch of Substack Notes resulted in criticism by Musk, and Twitter began censoring links to Substack on its platform.[34][35][36]

Finances

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Authors can decide to make subscribing to their newsletter free or paid, and to make specific posts publicly available to non-subscribers.[18]As of 2020,the minimum fee for a subscription was $5/month or $30/year,[18]and Substack usually takes a 10% fee from subscription payments.[14][9]Substack earns no revenue from advertisements placed by publishers.[17]In February 2019, the platform began allowing creators to monetize podcasts.[37]

Substack reported 11,000 paid subscribers as of 2018, rising to 50,000 in 2019.[37]

Chris Best discussing mobile advertising in 2015

Substack raised an initial seed round in 2018 from investors includingThe Chernin Group,Zhen Fund,TwitchCEOEmmett Shear,and Zynga co-founderJustin Waldron.[38]Andreessen Horowitzprovided $15.3 million inSeries A fundingin 2019, some of which went to bringing high-profile writers into Substack's network.[39]Substack has provided some content creators with advances to start working on their platform.[14]In 2019, the site provided a fellowship to some writers, which included a $3,000 stipend and a one-day workshop in San Francisco.

The decline of sports-oriented publications such asSports Illustrated,Deadspin,andSB Nation,coupled with the onset of theCOVID-19 pandemic,led to a surge in sports journalists moving to write on Substack in 2019 and 2020. Substack competes with subscription siteThe Athleticin this submarket, so McKenzie says the company recruits less strongly in that market.[9]In 2020, following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Substack extended grants of $1,000–$3,000 to over 40 writers to begin working on the platform.[9]Substack expanded into comics content in 2021 and signed creators includingSaladin Ahmed,Jonathan Hickman,Molly Ostertag,Scott Snyder,andJames Tynion IV,paying them while keeping their subscription revenue. After their first year, Substack will take 10 percent of subscription revenue.[24]

The Substack founders reached out to a small pool of writers in 2017 to acquire their first creators.[10]Bill Bishop was among the first to put his newsletter,Sinocism,on Substack, providing his newsletter for $11 a month or $118 a year with daily content.[5]As of 2019, Bishop'sSinocismwas the top paid newsletter on the service.[37]By late 2020, the conservative newsletterThe Dispatchclaimed the title of top Substack user, with more than 100,000 subscribers and over $2 million in first-year revenue, according to founder Steve Hayes.[17]In May 2021, Substack acquired Brooklyn-based startup People & Company.[40]

In August 2020, Substack reported that over 100,000 users were paying for at least one newsletter.[39]As of August 2021, Substack had more than 250,000 paying subscribers and its top ten publishers were making $7 million in annualized revenue.[41]

In April 2022,The New York Timesreported Substack may be valued at $650 million.[42]Substack dropped an effort to raise money in May 2022.[43]The company had aimed to raise between $75 million and $100 million.[43]

Privacy incident

[edit]

On July 28, 2020, Substack sent out email notifications to all its users about changing privacy policies and notification aboutCalifornia Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)compliance. In this notification email, email addresses of all recipients were inadvertently included in the email "cc"field rather than in the"bcc"field. This exposed the email addresses of many Substack users.[44]The company acknowledged the issue on Twitter and said that it was remedied after the initial batch of emails but did not disclose the number of users affected.[44]

Substack Pro

[edit]

In March 2021, Substack revealed that it had been experimenting with arevenue sharingprogram in which it paid advances for writers to create publications on its platform; this became a program known as Substack Pro.[4]Substack has been criticized for not disclosing which writers were part of Substack Pro.[45]

Substack Defender

[edit]

Substack provides legal advice to its writers through its program Substack Defender. Lawyers provide a legal review of stories before they are published, and provide advice surrounding cease-and-desist letters related to writers' work.[41]This includes stating that they will defend Jessica Reed Kraus ifAmber Hearddecided to sue her.[46]

Criticism

[edit]

In 2020, popular platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube began restricting or removing accounts that they claim spreadCOVID-19 misinformation,which violates those platforms' content policies. Some prominent authors accused of spreading misinformation have moved from those platforms to Substack.The Washington PostmentionedJoseph Mercola(whose content Imran Ahmed, CEO of theCenter for Countering Digital Hate,called "so bad [that] no one else will host it" ) andSteve Bannon(whom Elizabeth Dwoskin, writing forThe Washington Post,accused of spreading "violent rhetoric and false claims about the [2020] election in the weeks leading up to theCapitol siege on Jan. 6") asconspiracy theoristswho have moved their online presence to Substack.[47]

In January 2022, the Center for Countering Digital Hate accused Substack of allowing content that could be dangerous topublic health.The Center estimated that the company earned $2.5 million per year from the top fiveanti-vaccineauthors alone (who have tens of thousands of subscribers).[47]Presumably in response to press inquiries, the three founders affirmed their commitment to minimal censorship in a blog post.[48]

Substackers Against Nazis

[edit]

Substack faced further criticism in November 2023 for allowing its platform to be used bywhite nationalists,Nazis,andantisemites.[49]Critics highlighted that this is in spite of Substack'sTerms of Servicethat supposedly prohibithate speech.In an open letter, more than 100 Substack users implored Substack's leadership to stop giving bigotry a platform.[50]Substack CEO Hamish McKenzie responded to the controversy by confirming that the company will continue to allow the publication of extremist views, saying that attempting to censor them would make the problem worse.[51][52]

In the December 23, 2023, edition of his SubstackThe Racketnewsletter, a post titled "The Social Network",[53]Jonathan Katzprovided details about dialogue he has had with the platform about the controversy noted in the aforementioned open letter (which was titled "Substackers Against Nazis" ).[54]He took issue not only with Substack's promotion of extremist newsletters on the platform, but also its subjection of subscribers to non-extremist newsletters on the platform (and, with its billing partner,Stripe) to profiteering from said promotion and sharing on behalf of the extremist authors. He discussed options he was exploring in reaction to the platform's assertion that the policy will continue.

Substack's decision to allow Nazi and other extremist content led multiple newsletters to leave the platform, includingCasey Newton'sPlatformer,[55][56][57]Molly White'sCitation Needed,andRyan Broderick'sGarbage Day.[58]

References

[edit]
  1. ^Mullin, Benjamin (26 May 2022)."Substack Drops Fund-Raising Efforts as Market Sours".The New York Times.Archived fromthe originalon 2 June 2022.Substack has told investors that it had revenue of about $9 million in 2021
  2. ^Fischer, Sara (29 June 2022)."Substack lays off 13 employees, roughly 14% of company".Axios.Archivedfrom the original on 30 June 2022.Retrieved30 June2022.
  3. ^"Substack celebrates its first birthday with 25K paying newsletter subscribers".TechCrunch.16 October 2018.Archivedfrom the original on 28 June 2022.Retrieved13 May2022.
  4. ^abMcKenzie, Hamish (12 March 2021)."Why we pay writers".Substack Blog.Archivedfrom the original on 13 April 2021.Retrieved12 April2021.
  5. ^abcKafka, Peter (16 October 2017)."Meet the startup that wants to help you build a subscription newsletter business overnight".Vox.Archivedfrom the original on 28 December 2021.Retrieved14 July2020.
  6. ^"Analysis | A classic Silicon Valley tactic — losing money to crush rivals — comes in for scrutiny".The Washington Post.ISSN0190-8286.Archivedfrom the original on 6 July 2021.Retrieved29 July2021.
  7. ^Fatemi, Falon."The Rise Of Substack—And What's Behind It".Forbes.Archivedfrom the original on 24 April 2022.Retrieved29 July2021.
  8. ^"Here's How the Top Newsletter Platforms Challenging Substack Stack Up".TheWrap.20 July 2021.Archivedfrom the original on 16 April 2022.Retrieved29 July2021.
  9. ^abcdStrauss, Ben (1 June 2020)."Out-of-work sportswriters are turning to newsletters, hoping the economics can work".The Washington Post.Archivedfrom the original on 4 July 2021.Retrieved14 July2020.
  10. ^abBilton, Ricardo (5 October 2017)."'Stratechery as a service': Substack aims to streamline the creation of independent subscription news sites ".Nieman Lab.Archivedfrom the original on 15 July 2020.Retrieved16 July2020.
  11. ^abIsaac, Mike (19 March 2019)."The New Social Network That Isn't New at All".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on 10 June 2023.
  12. ^Daniels, Chris (11 December 2020)."Journalism's future or passion project? Breaking down the world of Substack".PRWeek.Archivedfrom the original on 8 April 2023.Retrieved25 February2021.
  13. ^Recker, Jane (22 December 2020)."Substack Is Attracting Big DC Journos. Who's Making the Leap?".Washingtonian.Archivedfrom the original on 9 April 2023.Retrieved25 February2021.
  14. ^abcSmith, Ben(24 May 2020)."The New Model Media Star Is Famous Only to You".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on 18 April 2022.Retrieved14 July2020.
  15. ^Ha, Anthony (18 March 2021)."Substack faces backlash over the writers it supports with big advances".TechCrunch.Archivedfrom the original on 21 September 2023.Retrieved3 June2021.
  16. ^Shephard, Alex (25 May 2020)."Is Email the Future of Journalism?".The New Republic.Archivedfrom the original on 6 March 2022.Retrieved16 July2020.
  17. ^abcTracy, Marc (23 September 2020)."Journalists Are Leaving the Noisy Internet for Your Email Inbox".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on 5 May 2022.Retrieved12 October2020.Writers own their newsletters, and the platform takes a 10 percent cut.
  18. ^abcdWiener, Anna(28 December 2020)."Is Substack the Media Future We Want?".The New Yorker.Archivedfrom the original on 23 February 2022.Retrieved11 February2021.
  19. ^Ha, Anthony (3 June 2019)."Substack expands its subscription platform with discussion threads".TechCrunch.Archivedfrom the original on 15 July 2020.Retrieved22 August2020.
  20. ^Ha, Anthony (7 February 2019)."Subscription platform Substack adds podcast support".TechCrunch.Archivedfrom the original on 15 July 2020.Retrieved22 August2020.
  21. ^Newton, Casey."Platformer".platformer.news.Archivedfrom the original on 2 December 2021.Retrieved2 December2021.
  22. ^Newcomer, Eric."Newcomer".newcomer.co.Archivedfrom the original on 29 June 2023.Retrieved29 June2023.
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  24. ^abGustines, George Gene (August 9, 2021)."Comic Book Writers and Artists Follow Other Creators to Substack".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on August 9, 2021.RetrievedAugust 9,2021.
  25. ^Milmo, Dan (20 September 2021)."Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk to serialise new book on Substack".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Archivedfrom the original on 21 May 2024.Retrieved19 April2023.
  26. ^Haring, Bruce (12 February 2022)."Bill Maher's 'Real Time' Explores The" Freedom Convoy "Awakening And Whoopi Goldberg's Exile".Deadline.Archivedfrom the original on 19 April 2023.Retrieved19 April2023.
  27. ^Lee, Edmund (1 September 2021)."Salman Rushdie Enters His Substack Period".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on 24 April 2023.Retrieved19 April2023.
  28. ^Sutherland, Tui T. (27 June 2024)."Hi everyone!".Substack.Archivedfrom the original on 29 June 2024.Retrieved29 June2024.
  29. ^Hart, David Bentley (12 July 2021)."Leaves in the Wind".Substack.Archivedfrom the original on 12 July 2021.Retrieved4 January2023.
  30. ^Stone, Sam (9 December 2021)."I Hate Fairyland:Skottie Young Lends a Look at Gertrude's Chaotically Epic Return ".Comic Book Resources.Archivedfrom the original on 12 October 2023.Retrieved9 December2021.
  31. ^abSilvera, Ian."Why even Substack can't resist video".news-future.com.Archivedfrom the original on 27 January 2022.Retrieved27 January2022.
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  34. ^Patel, Nilay (13 April 2023)."Is Substack Notes a" Twitter clone "? We asked CEO Chris Best".The Verge.Archivedfrom the original on 30 April 2023.Retrieved30 April2023.
  35. ^Hern, Alex (11 April 2023)."Row between Twitter and Substack ends with uneasy truce".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Archivedfrom the original on 21 May 2024.Retrieved30 April2023.
  36. ^Conger, Kate; Mac, Ryan (7 April 2023)."Twitter Takes Aim at Posts That Link to Its Rival Substack".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on 30 April 2023.Retrieved30 April2023.
  37. ^abcOwen, Laura Hazard (16 July 2019)."Email newsletter platform Substack nabs $15.3 million in funding (and vows it won't go the way of other VC-funded media companies)".Nieman Lab.Archivedfrom the original on 11 May 2022.Retrieved16 July2020.
  38. ^"Substack raises $2 million to prove newsletters can help media".May 2018.Archivedfrom the original on 6 March 2022.Retrieved17 June2021.
  39. ^abWalsh, James D. (29 August 2020)."A Guide to the Newsletter Economy".Intelligencer.Archivedfrom the original on 4 January 2022.Retrieved13 September2020.
  40. ^"Substack acquires team from community consulting startup People & Company".TechCrunch.13 May 2021.Archivedfrom the original on 11 November 2023.Retrieved14 May2021.
  41. ^abFatemi, Falon."The Rise Of Substack—And What's Behind It".Forbes.Archivedfrom the original on 24 April 2022.Retrieved1 September2021.
  42. ^Hsu, Tiffany (13 April 2022)."Substack's Growth Spurt Brings Growing Pains".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on 19 April 2022.Retrieved19 April2022.
  43. ^abMullin, Benjamin (26 May 2022)."Substack Drops Fund-Raising Efforts as Market Sours".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on 2 June 2022.Retrieved26 May2022.
  44. ^abMcKay, Tom (28 July 2020)."Substack Just Accidentally Revealed Email Addresses of Tons of Users".Gizmodo.Archivedfrom the original on 6 March 2022.Retrieved29 July2020.
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  46. ^The SportsGrail (7 August 2022)."Jessica Reed Kraus Substack House Inhabit Reveals Amber Heard Organised Sex Parties And Blackmailed Elon Musk For Money To Fight Case Against Johnny Depp".The SportsGrail.Archivedfrom the original on 6 May 2023.Retrieved6 May2023.
  47. ^abElizabeth Dwoskin (27 January 2022)."Conspiracy theorists, banned on major social networks, connect with audiences on newsletters and podcasts".The Washington Post.Archivedfrom the original on 12 February 2022.Retrieved3 February2022.
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  49. ^Katz, Jonathan (28 November 2023)."Substack Has a Nazi Problem".The Atlantic.Archivedfrom the original on 21 December 2023.Retrieved21 December2023.
  50. ^Rainey, Clint (14 December 2023)."More than 100 creators are threatening to leave Substack over Nazi newsletters".Fast Company.Archivedfrom the original on 21 December 2023.Retrieved21 December2023.
  51. ^Lawler, Richard (21 December 2023)."Substack says it will not remove or demonetize Nazi content".The Verge.Archivedfrom the original on 22 December 2023.Retrieved21 December2023.
  52. ^Hern, Alex (3 January 2024)."Substack faces user revolt over anti-censorship stance on neo-Nazis".The Guardian.Archivedfrom the original on 21 May 2024.Retrieved3 January2024.
  53. ^Katz, Jonathan,The Social NetworkArchived24 December 2023 at theWayback Machine,The Racket, Substack, December 23, 2023
  54. ^Kabas, Marisa,More than 200 publications join Substackers Against NazisArchived24 December 2023 at theWayback Machine,The Handbasket,December 16, 2023
  55. ^Peters, Jay (11 January 2024)."Substack keeps the Nazis, loses Platformer".The Verge.Archivedfrom the original on 12 January 2024.Retrieved12 January2024.
  56. ^Bhattacharya, Ananya (12 January 2024)."Substack's Nazi content has cost it a top tech newsletter".Quartz.Archivedfrom the original on 12 January 2024.Retrieved12 January2024.
  57. ^Madarang, Charisma (12 January 2024)."Substack Loses Major Newsletter Platformer Over Nazi Content".Rolling Stone.Archivedfrom the original on 12 January 2024.Retrieved12 January2024.
  58. ^Lorenz, Taylor; Oremus, Will (12 January 2024)."Substack's woes deepen as tech blog leaves over Nazi content".The Washington Post.ISSN0190-8286.Archivedfrom the original on 20 January 2024.Retrieved12 January2024.
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