This Week's Interview

Evan Armstrong, the author of Napkin Math, which is part of the Every collective, sends his newsletter to more than 17,000 subscribers every week. He writes clear explainers of business ideas and financial constructs.

Here, Evan shares his strategies for clear writing—and clear thinking.

Trends in Tech & Media:

• 💸 Do incentives matter? Here's a quandry Substack may not have thought of: What if writers are uninterested in large paychecks? Pulitzer Prize winning writer Jerry Saltz turned down a $250,000 offer from Substack to continue working with his editorial staff at New York Magazine. Saltz wrote that he values the ability to work with editors and enjoys the "department store" element of discoverability in a magazine. Anyone can pick it up, anyone can browse around. Readers aren't just loyal, tribalist subscribers, but can be anyone who serendipitously picks up the piece. From Saltz: “I want to reach strangers; be loved and hated by strangers; talk about art to anyone anywhere any how.” For a deeper look at the incentives of creative work, consider "The Inner Ring of The Internet."
   
• 💰Facebook's $1 billion payouts. In typical Facebook fashion, Zuck offered his answer to the question of creative incentives this week: Yes, money matters. "Facebook plans to pay out $1 billion to creators over the next year and a half as part of an effort to court content makers to its many services," The Verge reported. Here are the details: Creators will be paid out "bonuses" for achieving certain levels of popularity across a variety of products, from Instagram ads to videos on Reels. The bonus program will be invite-only for now. 
   
• 📚 Substack is making classes free. Substack is offering free classes for writers to learn how to make their first $1,000 dollars writing online. The six-week class series will be held over Zoom, and will focus on writing, editing, and growing an audience. This seems like a smart move, and I suspect other platforms may follow. But as many companies have learned: Community building, classes, and human relationships are a very different task to accomplish than building software. 

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Resources:

• Study Hall is collecting data on newsletter revenue. 
• The Hustle's Evan Armstrong compiled all of his newsletter Twitter threads.
• Packy McCormick launched a venture fund.

Inside Newsletter Crew's Community

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• The Half Marathoner. The Half Marathoner is a newsletter written by Terrell Johnson, the founder and editor-in-chief of Half Marathon Guide, plus Carissa Liebowitz and Hollie Sick, a pair of highly experienced runners who share everything they know about how to become a better runner. Subscribe.
   
• Fintech Today. Fintech Today is a newsletter on what's newsworthy and noteworthy in the fintech space, written by Ian Kar and Julie Verhage. Subscribe.