Founder stories
$100K ARRen 6 months
2 hitos
Current revenue
Substack $45M ARR March 2025 (up from $37M in 2024). $100M Series C at $1.1B valuation in 2025.
Newsletter Platform Co-Founder Gets First Publisher, $100K+ Revenue Day One
Founder
Hamish McKenzie
Co-Fundadores•Técnico•USA
Dedicación
Tiempo completoExperiencia
Con experienciaProducto
Platform enabling writers to start and run subscription newsletters.
Tipo
SaaSIndustria
Creación de ContenidoModelo
Comisiones de MarketplaceEstrategia de marketing
Cómo Hamish consiguió clientes
Canal de crecimiento
Boca a Boca
También usado
Comunidades
Tech Stack
Herramientas usadas para construir Substack
Ruby on RailsStripeSendGridAWS
La historia completa
TL;DR
Substack found the perfect first customer in Bill Bishop, who generated $100K+ in revenue on his first day going paid.
When Substack launched in July 2017, co-founder Hamish McKenzie and his team needed one perfect publisher to demonstrate their model.
The Perfect First Customer
Their first customer was Bill Bishop, who had been writing a newsletter about China for 5 years for free. His friend Ben Thompson (Stratechery founder) encouraged him to go paid.
The Launch
Bill was the ideal demonstrator - he had built up a following. When he launched his paid newsletter Sinocism on Substack in October 2017, he immediately got six-figures of revenue on day one.
The Validation
This success convinced the founders to go deeper and take a big swing at building Substack into a full platform. The company quickly added a third co-founder, Jairaj Sethi, as CTO.
- First publisher: Bill Bishop (Sinocism)
- Day one revenue: $100K+
- Platform launch: July 2017
- Business model: 10% of creator revenue
Conclusiones clave
1
Find the perfect first customer who can demonstrate your vision
2
Existing audience + monetization platform = immediate revenue potential
3
Day one success ($100K+) can validate entire business model
4
Strategic first customer creates powerful case study for future growth
Publicado originalmente enThought Economics
¿Inspirado por el camino de Hamish? Genera una idea de negocio en el sector Creación de Contenido usando AI y datos reales de founders.
Milestone Journey
Hamish alcanzó 2 milestones en el camino hacia $100K ARR
Primer Cliente
3 months
October 2017
16% más rápido
vs promedio 4 months+3 months al próximo milestone
$100K ARR
$100,000
6 months
January 2018
84% más rápido
vs promedio 3 years6 months
Tiempo total del recorrido
2
Milestones alcanzados
El camino de Hamish hacia $100K ARRPremium
El recorrido, las decisiones y el contexto detrás de este hito
Desbloquea el Camino Completo de Hamish
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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.
How long did it take Substack to reach $100k arr?
Hamish McKenzie took 6 months to reach $100k arr 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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