👋 Hi Reader, I learn something new every time, Adam Ryan from Workweek shows up on my LinkedIn Feed. This week was no different. Adam decided to call out the elephant in the room in the newsletter ecosystem: Bot Email Opens. Adam's post on LinkedIn this week Adam would know this firsthand. Across its newsletter portfolio, Workweek does millions of email sends in a given month. So understanding what’s happening across the board and who’s opening their emails is the prime imperative for Adam,...
12 days ago • 2 min read
👋 Hi Reader, On this fine Saturday morning, let me come clean on something you might not know about me: I am an open source nerd. I started my career building game design levels on Half-Life, (I know, I am old, be nice) and I was blown away by the fact that someone would allow a nerd like me to play around and add my tiny contribution to the game I so loved playing. I never pursued that line of my career full-time, but I got hooked to reading and knowing about all things open. As I built my...
19 days ago • 2 min read
👋 Hi Reader, I will come clean: I come from privilege. Privilege of being able to move seamlessly from an analog era to a digital-native era, without skipping a beat. Privilege to make dollars online, without having to meet people (most of the time) Privilege to have witnessed traditional media and new-age media long enough (2 decades each) to tell the difference. Most importantly, the privilege to see two factions of new media battle it out online - and have the critical thinking to see each...
26 days ago • 3 min read
👋 Hi Reader, Thank you for your patience over the last 10 days. I was due to write this issue on the morning of Feb 28th from Austin, when I heard about the war breaking out. Since then, I had just one priority: to get to my family back home safely as soon as possible. I am now back home after a protracted series of flight delays and cancellations, so let me get right to the task at hand: my takeways from NMS 2026. Pre-event meetup - 25th Feb I was at this event last year. And I was surprised...
about 1 month ago • 7 min read
👋 Hi Reader, Apologies for the radio silence this week. I had been making my way halfway across the world, so I can attend the New Media Summit in Austin on Feb 26-27. I spent the last couple of days figuring out which city I woke up in :) which is why I missed the usual Sat morning Eastern schedule for this issue. Matt McGarry from Growletter has been one of my primary go-to people for everything related to newsletters. When Growletter organized their first-ever newsletter summit in Feb 2025...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
👋 Hi Reader, There’s a school of thought that you might never become rich or famous building for too niche an audience. That you might not be able to reach out to enough subscribers to make your newsletter habit worthwhile. That no body posts videos about your niche online. But that’s where the opportunity lies: To build content in a void that your target audience is craving for. Alexis Grant understood that. Her first two companies got acquired, and while going through the acquisition...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
👋 Hi Reader, I am a big fan of the work Daniel Greenberg and Matt Huang put out for their Connection Acccepted Podcast. But one thing has always irked me on Daniel’s LinkedIn content. See the part highlighted in his signature below. Daniel's recent LinkedIn Post I believe Daniel is immensely responsible and influential in the way he structures his content and brand. So why would his employer not endorse his content, and enable him to build his brand on full throttle? The systemic mindset with...
2 months ago • 3 min read
👋 Hi Reader, I am Renga and I run LetterStack. I also invest in a number of startups through VC fund syndicates. What this means in simple terms is, I handoff a pot of money and then wait for 6-8 years for the (if it happens) payoff. Now and then, I would get a quarterly/bi-annual update from the fund saying in as many words ‘your money is doing the work’. And I am devastated to see that play out. And apparently a lot of folks agree with that emotion, especially on LinkedIn. My LinkedIn post...
2 months ago • 2 min read
👋 Hi Reader, I devour everything that the a16z team publishes. Their events for SF Tech Week. Their predictions for each year in Jan. And of course, everything they produce in their media network. So when they announced the New Media Fellowship with Erik Torenberg at the helm, (as my Gen Z niece says, no cap) I was frothing at the mouth. In 2022-2023, I had been a product management partner at OnDeck, where Erik and Julian Weisser ran a fine show. I had been following everything Erik had led...
3 months ago • 3 min read