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Hamish McKenzie
Substack
Cofundador de plataforma de boletines obtiene su primer publicador, $100K+ de ingresos el primer día
3 months
Primer Cliente
Boca a Boca
Growth Channel
Co-Fundadores
Founder
Founder
Hamish McKenzie
Co-Fundadores•Technical•USA
Commitment
Full-timeExperience
ExperiencedProduct
Plataforma que permite a los escritores crear y ejecutar boletines de suscripción.
Type
SaaSIndustry
Creación de ContenidoModel
Comisiones de MarketplaceMarketing Strategy
How Hamish acquired customers
Growth Channel
Boca a Boca
Also Used
Comunidades
Tech Stack
Tools used to build Substack
Ruby on RailsStripeSendGridAWS
The Full Story
TL;DR
Substack encontró el cliente perfecto en Bill Bishop, quien generó $100K+ en ingresos en su primer día siendo pagado.
Cuando Substack lanzó en julio de 2017, el cofundador Hamish McKenzie y su equipo necesitaban un publicador perfecto para demostrar su modelo.
El cliente perfecto
Su primer cliente fue Bill Bishop, quien había estado escribiendo un boletín sobre China durante 5 años de forma gratuita. Su amigo Ben Thompson (fundador de Stratechery) lo animó a que lo hiciera de pago.
El lanzamiento
Bill fue el demostrador ideal: había construido una audiencia. Cuando lanzó su boletín de pago Sinocism en Substack en octubre de 2017, inmediatamente obtuvo seis cifras de ingresos en el primer día.
La validación
Este éxito convenció a los fundadores de profundizar y hacer un gran movimiento en la construcción de Substack como plataforma completa. La empresa rápidamente agregó un tercer cofundador, Jairaj Sethi, como CTO.
- Primer publicador: Bill Bishop (Sinocism)
- Ingresos del primer día: $100K+
- Lanzamiento de plataforma: Julio de 2017
- Modelo de negocio: 10% de ingresos del creador
Key Takeaways
1
Encuentra el cliente perfecto para demostrar tu visión
2
Audiencia existente + plataforma de monetización = potencial de ingresos inmediato
3
El éxito del primer día ($100K+) puede validar todo el modelo de negocio
4
El primer cliente estratégico crea un caso de estudio poderoso para el crecimiento futuro
Originally published onThought Economics
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Against every documented journey
The median of the 364 documented journeys with this milestone is 30 days; this one took 3 months.
This journey
3 months
Median of 364
30 days
Hamish's Path to Primer ClientePremium
The journey, decisions, and context behind this milestone
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Frequently asked questions
How much does Substack make?
Substack reports $45M ARR as of March 2025. Substack $45M ARR March 2025 (up from $37M in 2024). $100M Series C at $1.1B valuation in 2025. Source: Sacra.
What is Substack?
Plataforma que permite a los escritores crear y ejecutar boletines de suscripción. It operates in Creación de Contenido.
How long did it take Substack to reach primer cliente?
Hamish McKenzie took 3 months to reach primer cliente with Substack.
Was Hamish McKenzie a solo founder?
No. Hamish McKenzie built Substack with co-founders.
What marketing channel did Substack use to grow?
Substack grew primarily through Boca a Boca.
What industry is Substack in?
Substack operates in Creación de Contenido.
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