Thread by @NeckarValue

2021 left me grateful, excited, and terrified.

-Grateful because I got to write.

-Excited because I'm making money with it.

-Terrified because who knows if it's going to work out (tbd).

I sent my first email in August 2020 and as of today I have 6,689 free subscribers.🙏

... as well as 392 paid subscribers for annualized revenue of ~$45,000.

I hate that this creates mixed feelings. But it does.

I'm grateful for every single subscriber. But it's not sustainable. Yet.

And, compared to many others, it's small.🤏

“Envy is a really stupid sin because it’s the only one you could never possibly have any fun at. There’s a lot of pain and no fun. Why would you want to get on that trolley?” Charlie Munger

"Comparison is the thief of joy.” Theodore Roosevelt

It's true. Envy poisons the heart and mind. It diminishes the gratitude and appreciation.

But it's there.

I’ve found that trying to hide or deny what I don’t like about myself doesn’t make it go away. It just leaves me feeling ashamed and the undesirable feeling bottled up.

I do want to let go of the feeling.

Writing helps me take an honest look at myself, warts and all. And sharing it feels like a necessary act of acceptance: “This too is true. I don’t like it. I hope I can change it. But right now it is true and I accept myself with this flaw.”

I feel some pride writing about these moments of weakness. I hope it helps my readers avoid the same mistakes. Or, by showing them they're not alone, soften the blow of their inner critic.

Because of this element of self expression I haven’t treated the newsletter like a job or a business. It's much more than that to me.

This also means I haven't implemented some of the advice and learnings I picked up along the way. But perhaps you find some of them helpful.

“All successful newsletters are alike, but every unsuccessful one is unsuccessful in its own way.” Leo Tolstoy, probably, if he was a substack writer.

There's much to learn from other newsletters. Study those that got big recently, in a similar competitive environment.

Study people like:
@mariogabriele
@borrowed_ideas
@StockJabber
@LibertyRPF
@FoolAllTheTime
@DoombergT
@TSOH_Investing
@MarcRuby
@InvestmentTalkk
@ByrneHobart
@packyM

They all found something they're uniquely good at and interested in. This doesn't have to be unique knowledge. It can be synthesis, humor, format, anything that is a unique angle and voice. And they've mastered at least one channel to reach their audience.

Other patterns:

-Develop a clear value proposition.

-Growth is unpredictable but often a step-function and social.

-Consistency and frequency are good, all else equal.

-If you can, pick a great market. (But I don't think you can choose what you’re interested in.)

Figure out what you're uniquely good at. Your topic should naturally interest you.

It's not always going to be fun but there has to be a baseline of curiosity or someone more passionate will do a better job. (I worry about this aaaall the time.)

Turn that into a product people want. Then you just have to keep at it and tell everyone about it😉

My writing revolves around investing and the inner game (often they intersect). It's a journey and changes its shape as I learn more about the world and myself.

I don't see why it wouldn't be relevant to an audience 10x at large. But perhaps I'm biased 😇

Right now, I can’t see further ahead than a few months. Much like a walk near the foggy Neckar river this past week, the path reveals itself with every step. My task is to keep moving and trust that I’m going in the right direction.

Full year-end piece👇
neckar.substack.com/p/going-pro-a-…

I want to thank everyone whose advice, ideas, support, feedback, and friendship enriched my life this year. And thank you to everyone who commented or emailed about my work. You all make it worthwhile.❤

I know I'm going to forget tons of people, please don't be mad!

In no particular order, thank you!
@jposhaughnessy @tom_morganKCP @SuperMugatu @LibertyRPF @alixpasquet @AndrewRangeley @Tepper_Jonathan @goodinvestingc @NonGaap @SubstackLinda @trengriffin @ReustleMatt @kevg1412 @williamgreen72 @lylemckeany @mjmauboussin @marketplunger1

and @wolfejosh @StockJabber @modestproposal1 @lhamtil @GavinSBaker @Anrosenblum @MarcRuby @Lizquidity @BillBrewsterTBB @michaelbatnick @PeterJMorken @ShitFund @BillBrewsterTBB @lhamtil @ti_morse @HideNotSlide @JSiegel88