The Start:

Hamish McKenzie, a former journalist with a knack for storytelling and a deep understanding of the media landscape, co-founded Substack alongside Chris Best and Jairaj Sethi.

Before starting Substack, Hamish worked as a lead writer for Tesla and as a journalist covering technology for various publications.

His background in journalism and experience in the tech industry gave him unique insights into the evolving needs of writers and readers in the digital age

The Problem:

Hamish noticed that many talented writers were struggling to monetize their work and connect directly with their audience due to the limitations of traditional media platforms.

The ad-driven revenue models were not sustainable for independent creators.

With Substack, he aimed to address this issue by providing a platform that allowed writers to publish newsletters, build a subscriber base, and earn revenue directly from their readers.

The goal was to empower writers to create and distribute high-quality content while fostering stronger connections with their audience and achieving financial independence.

Getting their first customers:

The founders of Substack, Chris, Jairaj, and Hamish, originally developed their platform with a single user in mind—Bill Bishop, the writer of Sinocism.

Hamish, who had known Bill from his time living in Hong Kong, reached out with a proposal: "Hey Bill, we're developing Substack, a simple way to create a paid newsletter. Would you like to be our first publisher?"

To build the initial version, Chris and Hamish traveled to Washington, D.C., where Bill was based, and tailored the product specifically for his needs.

This approach led them to implement features early on that they might have otherwise postponed, such as group subscriptions.

In October 2017, Bill launched paid subscriptions for his 30,000+ subscribers, earning six figures in annual revenue by the end of the first day.

A few months later, he also became an angel investor in Substack. The second writer to join was Kelly Dwyer, who launched The Second Arrangement and was a significant voice in NBA writing.

Each new writer brought Substack dual media opportunities: the first highlighting the writer's transition to independence via Substack, and the second focusing on Substack attracting reputable writers.

A prominent example of this was when Kelly Dwyer joined, leading to articles by WSJ, Vox, and TechCrunch. Hamish persuaded Jack Marshall of WSJ to cover Substack two weeks after Kelly's debut on the platform.

Shortly after, Mallory Ortberg relaunched her publication, The Toast, on Substack, which garnered coverage from Fast Company.

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