A month into a paid newsletter for eng managers/engineers, it's taking off faster than I ever hoped:

~ 500 paid subscribers (thank you!)
~ 15,000 free subscribers
~ $62K ARR
- A top 10 @SubstackInc technology newsletter

Here's what I learned and advice on writing/newsletters 👇
1. Start writing. I started The Pragmatic Engineer blog years ago. At first, no one noticed. 70 essays later, a lot of people do.

If I started today, I'd join a community for feedback/encouragement like @bloggingfordevs by @monicalent (a community I'm a paying member of).
2. Write what *you* want to read. I always liked articles that shared observations on where tech is heading or explained important things with plain language.

So I wrote about this. Like equity in tech blog.pragmaticengineer.com/equity-for-sof… or product-minded engineers blog.pragmaticengineer.com/the-product-mi…
3. Once people pay attention, offer to capture emails. I did not do this until two years ago.

In those two years, 9,000 people shared emails and in return, I sent a summary of interesting things I've been thinking about in tech. A "best of" digest: docs.google.com/document/d/1i-…
4. Write more regularly. My biggest fear of starting a weekly newsletter: can I write every week?

Everyone tackles this fear differently: some just dive in. I wrote regularly the past 12 months, which gave me confidence that I can do this. What I wrote: blog.pragmaticengineer.com/books/
5. Come up with a value proposition.

When I became an eng manager at Uber, my manager offered I could expense whatever publication I wanted, to grow professionally.

I did not find anything for engineering managers or tech leads. So I am writing it: newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
6. Consider lead generation. While @SubstackInc is a great platform to start a (paid) newsletter, assume you will get little to no traffic from there.

Remember about writing a blog for years? Turns out I have a *lot* of traffic from there. This much: blog.pragmaticengineer.com/stats/
7. Give, give, give. Help, help, help.

Only then ask.

On the day announced I'm starting a $15/month newsletter, 20 people signed up. Before the first issue, this was close to 100.

Most of these people were ones I somehow helped in the past with one of my many articles.
8. Nothing beats regular original, and high quality.

I've noticed there is no shortage of people with original thoughts, and those who can write with high quality.

Almost no one does this regularly. Not in engineering, not in other niches.

If you can do this: you'll get ahead.
9. Set a schedule.

If you write a weekly newsletter, come up with a schedule. For every article, I need to account for:
- Idea
- Research
- Draft
- Reviews
- Editing

This can take up more than a week. So I have a few of these run parallel.
10. Twitter is underrated for tech professionals.

I connected with amazing people in the tech community, and - just as importantly - regularly get inspiration, information, and feedback from people.

I frequently share drafts of my articles, and Twitter helps make them better.
11. If you're going paid, or want to improve your writing: hire an editor. Once you find someone you click with: stick with them.

My editor is @BestEngCopy and he has made me a better writer, and my writing more pleasant to read. 100% recommend.

12. Stand on the shoulders of giants. I have @lennysan to thank for the inspiration of starting a newsletter, and his very open sharing of his journey - including how he wondered if he should have gone paid earlier.

And this tweet thread is inspired by:

13. Have a goal and stick to it.

I want to make it easy for engineers and managers to grow, week after week, while keeping up with stuff that works in the industry, especially with high-growth places.

Hop onboard here: newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
14. If you're hesitating: grab the discount (and if you have a learning/training/professional development budget, consider expensing it).

Until 30 September, the newsletter is $100/year as the special launch pricing and increases afterward. newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/coming-soon

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More from @GergelyOrosz

26 Sep
When you ask "Why did Company build 7 of the same products that all failed?", it always starts with the current solution struggling. This is an opportunity. Not to fix - which doesn't get you promoted - but to start anew.

An all too real story about Promotion Driven Development:
1. Opportunity.

The PM identifies the opportunity as Company's current product(s) are struggling. The root cause? Incorrect positioning/not understanding new market dynamics.

Opportunity: build a new product that addresses all these issues (and can get the PM promoted)
2. Proposal.

The PM makes a business case and an investment ask. "If we fund a team of 10 engineers, 2 data scientists, 1 designer, and 1 PM, we can ship a new product in 12 months, and an MVP in 6. This will result in this many users/revenue/market share: 📈"
Read 17 tweets
26 Sep
On equity: "Our CEO doesn't believe in awarding equity to employees b/c it creates the wrong types of incentives. People stay hoping for a payday."

I hear you. Companies that obviously did not get this memo include Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google, FB, Tesla, Twitter, Slack...
... not to talk about most of the fastest moving & innovative startups.

What the same C-levels don't like to admit is how they *do* have large amounts of equity, and hoping for a payday is one of the many reasons they also stay.

Aligning company and employee incentives works.
My writeup on equity in tech: what you need to know and why it's (very) important blog.pragmaticengineer.com/equity-for-sof…

A recent, in-depth book I reviewed and recommend: Equity Compensation for Tech Employees by @mcdickenson gumroad.com/a/276534387/Eg…
Read 4 tweets
25 Sep
My wife - transitioned to software engineering via a bootcamp - used to always be the only female in the engineering teams she worked at.

For the first time ever she now works on an all-women dev team and she says it is the best part of her job, finally not being the only one.
I’m gonna say it: from what I gather from her and talking with other women engineers, it sucks being the only one. Kept getting hit by biases, (micro)aggressions and having no one to talk it through with.

One minority on the team is a step forward, but it’s not yet diversity.
Some of the most diverse engineering teams are at small companies, that have very friendly interview processes.

Much of Big Tech is a place that scares anyone miles away with a heavyweight and stressful interview process where eg women rarely see another women on the panel.
Read 4 tweets
25 Sep
“Is it easier to get into Big Tech / FANG as a senior engineer or as an engineering manager? It’s my goal to work there, but my startup has an opportunity for me to become a manager.”

It’s a lot harder as a manager. Here’s why:
My answer on Reddit: reddit.com/r/ExperiencedD…

The thread with good takes from others: reddit.com/r/ExperiencedD…
My personal experience was the same with Uber.

I was a tech lead - managing a small team - at Skyscanner. Getting a senior engineer position at Uber was straightforward. I had management experience and asked if I could be considered for EM positions. The answer was no.
Read 4 tweets
24 Sep
After writing about how most of Big Tech does not use Scrum (does not mandate it/hire consultants) of course I get an influx of messages from Scrum and Agile / Agile 2 consultants offering how they could help.

I get that it’s business. But if it ain’t a problem… don’t fix it?
This was the article: blog.pragmaticengineer.com/project-manage…

And I’m literally getting pages long messages on how I misunderstand Scrum (I’m a certified Scrum master lol) and how “Scrum can help you get the same results.”

From people who make a living charging for Scrum, of course.
I get it: it sucks if teams do just fine by themselves, without having to hire a coach for $X,XXX/ day to tell them what to do and how.

The future is increasingly not needing Cerified Project People to run a tech company.

If you’re not there yet: they can help… for a while.
Read 4 tweets
24 Sep
ATSes rejecting resumes is the most persistent lie that well-meaning people echo.

This FUD made up by paid resume services you should not pay for.

I say this as a hiring manager familiar with most ATSes. They dont’t reject anyone. Ask any HM or recruiter like @AlaRecruiter
Here’s an in-depth version on why all this is false: thetechresume.com/samples/ats-my…

All this “ATSes reject people” have no quoted source beyond an article written by a content writer at a company selling ATS-proof resumes.

An investigation by a recruiter you should read:
Now the advice to tailor your resume to the job description is great advice.

There is no “robot” filtering resumes, but if a position gets 500 applicants, the recruiter reviewing these will consider ones that *clearly* show you’re a match for the position. Make it easy for them!
Read 4 tweets

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