Stew Fortier Profile picture
Feb 6 8 tweets 7 min read
Over the past two years, I've subscribed to 100+ newsletters.

I'm going to start sharing the best of them here.

First up is a long-time favorite: @every.

A mini-thread with a few pieces I love:
"You probably shouldn't work at a startup" –@itsearmstrong

I am a fanboy of @itsearmstrong's hot takes, especially the ones I disagree with.

This was a humbling, funny one.

every.to/napkin-math/yo…
"Why I love working at startups" –@nbashaw

Every is a writer collective, which means there's no single perspective on a topic.

I.e. @nbashaw can debate @itsearmstrong and defend us startup people ;)

Cognitive dissonance levels: 7/10

Fun levels: 10/10

every.to/divinations/wh…
I have two favorites from @fadeke_adegbuyi:

"LinkedIn’s Alternate Universe" 😹
every.to/cybernaut/link…

"Cashing in on Clubhouse"
every.to/cybernaut/cash…

Fadeke's breakdowns of social platforms & Internet culture are consistent gems.
"The inner ring of the Internet" –@ali_montag

One thing I dig about Every is that it actually has a soul...

It eschews hustle culture for "build meaningful stuff" vibes.

every.to/divinations/th…
Finally, I think I've listened to every episode of Talk Therapy with @danshipper & @nbashaw.

I feel like I'm in the room building Every with them.

Proof: my fiance snapped this photo of me listening to them last week.

open.spotify.com/show/5QXUmMrcC…
/ Fin.

Here's their subscribe link: every.to

(it's genuinely mind-blowing to see this page now – I started reading them when they only had two newsletters 🤯)
Now... who to feature next?

👀

- Tiny Revolutions by @tinyrevver
- The Menu by @amandanat
- The Jungle Gym by @nick_dewilde
- Trapital by @RuncieDan

So much good writing, so little time.

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More from @stewfortier

Jan 28
I've now asked 30+ successful newsletter writers how they got their first 1,000 subscribers.

Their answers are all similar.

Here's how to go from 0 to 1K subscribers (thread):
First, the high-level lessons:

1. You have to write good stuff for people to subscribe & stick around.

2. Most growth tactics are simple, not easy.

3. It's easier to succeed with a clear niche, but you can succeed without one.

4. Different wins – make your writing distinct!
Now, the tactics.

Here's what most people did to go from zero subscribers to 1,000+...
Read 20 tweets
Jan 19
Last year, I met the guy who discovered and advised Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, and just about every other famous comedian.

He utterly blew my mind with how he guided them early on in their careers to find their “signature move.”

Here’s everything he shared 👇
First, the backstory:

In the ‘80s, every comedy club in NYC treated comedians horribly.

They barely paid them. They made them order food off a separate, cheaper menu. They’d let in drunk hecklers to every show.

One of these underpaid, exhausted comics was Bill Grundfest. Image
Bill thought the whole thing was corrupt.

These clubs were building their businesses off the backs of these comedians.

He decided he’d start a new comedy club that treated comics with respect.

There was just one obvious problem: he was completely broke.
Read 18 tweets
Jan 16
I find it hard to believe 9 out of every 10 startups fail.

That stat is either a relic of a bygone era, or it includes every LLC somebody spins up on a whim and shuts down.

Here’s some non-exhaustive data on why failure rates are likely lower:
None of these are a smoking gun on their own. I think they mostly point to an overall ecosystem that's less risky than we're led to believe.
First, here's the 🐐 himself on venture returns:

"50% of the companies make money, 50% of the companies lose money."

(he's admittedly highlighting the returns for top firms)
Read 11 tweets
Jan 5
What's cooler than a big community?

A high-affinity one.

How we built a high-affinity community:
Quick backstory...

In 2020, I co-founded @FosterCoWriting.

We're a community of writers who edit & contribute to each others' work.

Since launch, we've helped 100's of writers collaborate on thousands of pieces of writing.

These are the community principles we've followed:
1. Define a clear purpose

A purpose is the core reason a community gathers.

But most communities never define this. They only pick a category.

• Category: “We're a community of designers”

• Purpose: “...who help each other find better clients.”

Purpose guides everything.
Read 13 tweets
Jan 2
It lives: my 2021 Annual Review.

I have no clue if I'll ever have the time or patience to do another one of these, but wow! It was clarifying.

See below for my main goals in 2022:

stewfortier.substack.com/p/2021-annual-…
@FosterCoWriting Goals:

1. Cultivate the most exceptional community of writers in the world

2. Get Foster to next [Growth, Revenue, Funding] milestone
Twitter Goals:

1. Write and publish one thread per week

2. Write and publish one tweet per day

3. Rank in the top 30 of Readwise’s “Top Threads” list

4. Rank in the top 30 of Readwise’s “Top Tweets” list
Read 7 tweets
Sep 26, 2021
I want to cry every time I check the online communities I joined this time last year.

Most of them are now barren wastelands.

Some thoughts on why online communities fail... 🧶
First, picture the scene:

You joined a poppin' Slack or Discord a while back.

It was LIT when you joined, but now it's... not lit.
Worse, it's a total ghost town...

A person without a profile photo floats around talking to themselves.

The latest post in the #wins channel is 7 months old – and it has two pitiful thumbs-up reactions.

The leader of the community is nowhere to be found.
Read 17 tweets

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