The Growth Triangle for Substack Writers
Most good newsletters don’t die because the writer lacked talent
They fail because the writer lacks an understanding of media and marketing as engines of business growth
Growth for a Substack solopreneur is a triangle with three gears:
Media = how you get discovered (Twitter, LinkedIn, referrals, Notes).
Marketing = how you convince people to care (your narrative, hooks, about page, tone).
Product = the thing they stick around for (your newsletter, cadence, design, paid extras).
Miss one gear, and the machine squeaks. Ignore two, and it collapses.
Substack = the perfect lab
Unlike a startup with staff and investors, you’ve got only three currencies: attention, trust, and consistency.
Substack amplifies this — because your product is the email itself.
Take
Media: Twitter + word-of-mouth got him discovered.
Marketing: Positioned himself as the PM’s playbook.
Product: Weekly, well-structured case studies made retention a no-brainer.
The results
That’s not luck. That’s alignment.
The Lesson
If you want Substack to pay your bills:
Stop thinking of yourself as “just a writer.”
Start thinking like an operator with a growth triangle.
Your words are the fuel. Alignment is the engine.