In honor of lastweekinaws.com hitting 20,000 subscribers, this thread is now an AMA about the newsletter.
Hit me!
Hit me!
There's oh so much to uncover. It uses or at one point used @getdrip, @Leadpages, @awscloud's S3 / Lambda / API-G / CloudFront / DynamoDB, @goserverless, @wpengine and by extension @gcpcloud, @retool, @convertkit, @epsagon, @pinboard, and @Pocket.
It has grown more complex than this, but here's the general outline. 
At launch I had no idea what I was doing. @mipsytipsy tweeted out a launch announcement, and exactly 550 people got the first issue.
It's grown by roughly 100 subscribers a week ever since. Surprisingly, not much that I do moves that number.
It's grown by roughly 100 subscribers a week ever since. Surprisingly, not much that I do moves that number.
And I've tried some odd things! Paid ads. Swag in 3000 conference attendee bags. Getting retweeted by giants.
The single best boost I've been able to generate was 400 subscribers in a week, and that took giving a keynote to 9,000 people.
The single best boost I've been able to generate was 400 subscribers in a week, and that took giving a keynote to 9,000 people.
Conversely, I don't really promote it and that growth continues unabated.
Until recently it was just a link roundup. "I write about what happened the previous week in the @awscloud ecosystem."
Sagemaker links prove surprisingly popular. Nobody cares about CloudFront edge POPs or regional service expansions.
Sagemaker links prove surprisingly popular. Nobody cares about CloudFront edge POPs or regional service expansions.
My favorite hot take so far has been that "multi-cloud is nonsense" should be the default starting position. Pick a provider, I don't care which, and go all-in.
Yes! Me too!
Do you have any *idea* how boring it would be otherwise? The snark is to keep myself engaged.
"How can I be funny, fresh, but not cross the lines I've set for myself?"
Do you have any *idea* how boring it would be otherwise? The snark is to keep myself engaged.
"How can I be funny, fresh, but not cross the lines I've set for myself?"
Feel free to ask questions about the business aspects, too! I can justify those WAY easier than my horseshit architectural decisions!
The best emails when I savage a service are of the form "tell me more." Very rarely I get someone defensive about a service that I've dumped on; the answer there is usually "that's not the story your release told."
But there was one time...
But there was one time...
This was years ago. Some jackwagon L7 at @awscloud emailed in pissed all the way off that @digitalocean was a sponsor:
My response was a very polite "I'm thrilled to be introduced to folks in the partner network who would like to sponsor!"
And then I called @samcoren (at the time at @DigitalOcean) and offered a three month package deal because fuck that guy.
And then I called @samcoren (at the time at @DigitalOcean) and offered a three month package deal because fuck that guy.
Yeah, that's why I started the "Whiteboard Confessional" series on Fridays at @awsmorningbrief. They didn't quite fit the newsletter format.
Probably that the biggest challenge would be managing my own psychology. For the first three years I was solo; that's a very lonely place to operate from. Everything I was doing was NDAd, so who could I talk to about it?
To receive it? It's free; just drop your email address in at lastweekinaws.com, click the link at the end, and roll with it.
To sponsor? That's harder to answer. There's a minimum buy of $5,000 excluding job ads, but there are variables.
To sponsor? That's harder to answer. There's a minimum buy of $5,000 excluding job ads, but there are variables.
I mostly shrug and let @CarolineVCarter handle sponsorship sales; she's a marvel.
In seriousness: she's also an editorial firewall. I don't know who's sponsoring until after I've written the issue, so it doesn't taint the content.
In seriousness: she's also an editorial firewall. I don't know who's sponsoring until after I've written the issue, so it doesn't taint the content.
We’re deep enough in the thread now to admit this: for the last year and a half (since the redesign) there’s been a hidden Easter egg.
Click the “Good Morning” at the top of the newsletter; it goes to a tweet from that week that I’m proud of.
Click the “Good Morning” at the top of the newsletter; it goes to a tweet from that week that I’m proud of.
That's the funny part. The most common source for our clients has been "we're not sure."
Most folks will follow my Twitter shitposting. Lots of them will subscribe to the newsletter. Fewer will listen to a podcast. And almost none will do a consulting project.
Most folks will follow my Twitter shitposting. Lots of them will subscribe to the newsletter. Fewer will listen to a podcast. And almost none will do a consulting project.
The difference between "almost none" and "actually none" works out, in practice, to a very respectable number!
But yes: "click on link in newsletter to buy one (1) consulting" isn't how it works. It's a long term process.
But yes: "click on link in newsletter to buy one (1) consulting" isn't how it works. It's a long term process.
Some folks like it for both. Others tolerate the snark for the information. Others don't care about @awscloud but love the comedy.
For me, it's a labor of love.
For me, it's a labor of love.
The first issue ("Mary Had a Little Lambda") was pretty weak. It took time to find its voice.
There was originally a "tip of the week" section. Turns out that that got dropped due to "I can't consistently think of ideas at 11PM on a Sunday night while crying."
There was originally a "tip of the week" section. Turns out that that got dropped due to "I can't consistently think of ideas at 11PM on a Sunday night while crying."
The rebrand (early 2019) was a long time coming. After I turned down the @awscloud job offer (lastweekinaws.com/blog/why-i-tur…) I figured it was time to get serious.
I wanted a new design because this wasn't cutting it.
Original logo:
I wanted a new design because this wasn't cutting it.
Original logo:
I found Corey Tiani of ptpx.works and haven't looked back.
He breathed life into Billie the Platypus.
Get yourself a designer who's so good you'll tolerate namespace collisions in the company Slack.
He breathed life into Billie the Platypus.
Get yourself a designer who's so good you'll tolerate namespace collisions in the company Slack.
I also spent a couple of days researching platypuses like you wouldn't believe.
"Surprise, that's super racist!" wasn't a mistake I was going to make. Apparently ~a third of the English words in the 1920s doubled as disparaging terms for Black people, but "platypus" was okay.
"Surprise, that's super racist!" wasn't a mistake I was going to make. Apparently ~a third of the English words in the 1920s doubled as disparaging terms for Black people, but "platypus" was okay.
For god's sake don't do what I did.
Y'know that ridiculous architecture diagram at the start of the thread?
After it was built, someone asked why I didn't use curated.co instead.
Go visit that site. It's EXACTLY aimed at what the newsletter is.
I screamed.
Y'know that ridiculous architecture diagram at the start of the thread?
After it was built, someone asked why I didn't use curated.co instead.
Go visit that site. It's EXACTLY aimed at what the newsletter is.
I screamed.
By now I'd have migrated off of curated.co, but... I went from @getdrip to @sendgrid to @convertkit already.
That said, it wasn't the technical bits that were hard.
That said, it wasn't the technical bits that were hard.
I have to write it every week. Now, it's twice a week (Wednesdays are my long form thoughts on the industry). That's a commitment.
Sponsors bought ads to run in those issues, so "taking a week off" isn't tenable.
Some weeks it flows easier than others.
Sponsors bought ads to run in those issues, so "taking a week off" isn't tenable.
Some weeks it flows easier than others.
Hah, this is fun.
"I have no idea" is the short answer. I don't do creepy demographic mining. The information I have these days is "a 6 part email series that comes in over a couple of weeks when you enroll." It lets people self select.
"I have no idea" is the short answer. I don't do creepy demographic mining. The information I have these days is "a 6 part email series that comes in over a couple of weeks when you enroll." It lets people self select.
I share that demographic data with sponsors in our media kit. Here's the data on the subscriber base, in its entirety, based upon self selected answers:
The newsletter is aimed at tracking what's happening in the AWS ecosystem. The list of people who do or should care about that is... lengthy. I try to include things for everyone, but obviously my own interests bias the coverage areas.
This is still my favorite part of the "About" page on the site:
I'm very hopeful that @heyhey shifts the norm on this.
I'd LOVE to disable tracking, but a "my open rates are LOL I DUNNO" is offputting to the sponsors who make this sustainable. BUT THAT SAID: I have built something towards that end...
I'd LOVE to disable tracking, but a "my open rates are LOL I DUNNO" is offputting to the sponsors who make this sustainable. BUT THAT SAID: I have built something towards that end...
I've injected my own link tracker in the hopes of deprecating @convertkit's.
It gathers aggregate data, but dumps all identifable information.
In other words, I care that 700 unique users clicked on a given link; I emphatically DON'T care who those users are.
It gathers aggregate data, but dumps all identifable information.
In other words, I care that 700 unique users clicked on a given link; I emphatically DON'T care who those users are.
It does this with a Lambda function + API-GW + DynamoDB. If it gets there, I will open source it to demonstrate exactly how little it tracks.
It also lets me after-the-fact shoot down or redirect a link that goes to a compromised site so emails don't get blocked.
It also lets me after-the-fact shoot down or redirect a link that goes to a compromised site so emails don't get blocked.
So DataDog was my first sponsor. ("Can we pay you money to mention us?" "Uh... yes? Of course? Wait, how much money?")
Their logo is awesome, so I played with it a bit on Twitter and then got a nasty email (quickly apologized for before I and a chance to reply.)
Their logo is awesome, so I played with it a bit on Twitter and then got a nasty email (quickly apologized for before I and a chance to reply.)
It turns out that brands are *SUPER* protective of their logos--who knew?
I wanted an animal I could do fun things with instead. Enter Billie the Platypus.
I wanted an animal I could do fun things with instead. Enter Billie the Platypus.
I'm still amazed at the psychotic situations the platypus finds its way into...
Yeah, this is what I refer to as the "destroy my entire reputation with one click" @convertkit feature. I would love it yanked from my account, never to return. I will never, ever click this intentionally. It gives me the cold sweats.
The newsletter / platypus brand is very playful by design. It weeds out potential clients that aren't a good fit; we want to work with people we like. Folks who aren't willing to do business because of a snarky platypus will have other problems with my approach. :-)
I will say it's gotta be surreal for some of our contractors being in our corporate Slack some days:
I would like to be very clear: @FireHydrantIO put this monstrosity on their website for a day as their logo, as agreed.
They are precisely the kind of company I would love to do business with. They have a personality!
They are precisely the kind of company I would love to do business with. They have a personality!
"There is no cloud, it's just @pinboard's computer." Between continuous backup and an hourly Lambda function (github.com/QuinnyPig/pinb…) my RPO is 1 hour at most.
Pinboard is awesome, but I do have fallbacks should the computers grow sleepy.
Pinboard is awesome, but I do have fallbacks should the computers grow sleepy.
"I have an obnoxious platypus and my brand is making fun of things on Twitter" and "we help our clients manage 5% of global @awscloud spend" are both true statements that work well in isolation, but sound freaking psychotic when you put them together like that.
Seeing how far I can push the envelope.
I don't want to be repetitive, and I don't want service teams to feel bad because I'm dunking on their product, so I reserve it for things that are REALLY bad.
Mocking names is safe!
I don't want to be repetitive, and I don't want service teams to feel bad because I'm dunking on their product, so I reserve it for things that are REALLY bad.
Mocking names is safe!
Corey Tiani's original design proposals (posted with permission!) for Billie the Platypus. I did and do know nothing about design whatsoever. @mike_julian finally had me inarticulate my thoughts into a microphone, and Corey worked his magic.
Hoo boy. "Weeding through the crap."
I have to pare 62 remaining items down to ~30 tomorrow. Fortunately the @awscloud Department of Who Gives A Crap is helping me out with releases like this that nobody will miss:
I have to pare 62 remaining items down to ~30 tomorrow. Fortunately the @awscloud Department of Who Gives A Crap is helping me out with releases like this that nobody will miss:
I'm snarky, platypuses are venomous. They won't kill you, but it will hurt like hell.
They lay eggs, I drop pearls of wisdom.
And like my clients, they... have a large bill.
They lay eggs, I drop pearls of wisdom.
And like my clients, they... have a large bill.
At publication time, I go through the app and add my snark while deleting the items that didn't make the cut.
I press a button, it writes out the modified Markdown ("Snarkdown") to an S3 object.
Another Lambda puts it through a custom linter.
Another Lambda checks links.
I press a button, it writes out the modified Markdown ("Snarkdown") to an S3 object.
Another Lambda puts it through a custom linter.
Another Lambda checks links.
If everything passes, yet another Lambda renders the snarkdown into the horribly HTML variant that works in everyone's email client.
I copy and paste that to @convertkit because a broadcast API doesn't exist.
I copy and paste that to @convertkit because a broadcast API doesn't exist.
One final Lambda resets everything for the upcoming week.
My solution was to buy lastweekincloud.com.
"If I ever get a 'please knock that off, or we will kill you' letter from @awscloud Legal, I can move everything over to the other domain and start talking about other cloud providers too" was my thinking.
"If I ever get a 'please knock that off, or we will kill you' letter from @awscloud Legal, I can move everything over to the other domain and start talking about other cloud providers too" was my thinking.
If lastweekinazure.com gets enough interest, I think I'd find some way to port that monstrosity to @azure functions, CosmosDB, and all the rest. It's a fun thought puzzle.
I hate all my children equally.
