Growth In Reverse: Newsletter & Email Growth

Get Esteban's 36k Subscriber Content Machine → growthinreverse.com/esteban/ ***Esteban Perez is the co-founder of the ADHD Weasel newsletter. Their newsletter has grown to over 36,000 subscribers and reached over 280,000 followers on Threads. But it wasn't all sunshine and butterflies. The cofounders first launched an app for food waste and discovered the hard way what happens when you don't validate your idea. Now, their newsletter is earning over $100k annually with 800+ paid subscribers. In this episode, Esteban shared how they go there, along with his most successful growth strategy - and their content strategy that allows a two-person team to post over 100 posts per week. KEY TAKEAWAYSHow a failed food waste app accidentally revealed the audience that became The ADHD WeaselThe "accidental" moment that convinced Esteban to launch a paid tierThe quiz that 6-7X'd conversions in one weekThe Threads posting system behind 4+ million viewsThe Meta ad format that worked because it didn't look like an adHow Esteban treats segments with a Substack newsletterThe platform Esteban believes has the most valuable subscribersThe weekly "bottleneck analysis" habit that everyone skipsLINKS MENTIONEDGet the 36K Subscriber Content Machine →ADHD Weasel — adhdweasel.comADHD Weasel on ThreadsEsteban's email — [email protected] ADHD Weasel Quiz (ADHD Weasel lead magnet)Publer (scheduling SOCIAL tool)FOLLOW ON SOCIALChenell: Twitter | LinkedInDylan: LinkedIn | Substack | InstagramOUR NEWSLETTERSgrowthinreverse.comgrowthcurrency.netSubscribe & Leave a Review:Love what you’re hearing? Make sure to subscribe, and if you found this episode helpful, leave us a rating & review on your favorite podcast platform.

Get the FREE Growth Levers Library: growthinreverse.com/growth-levers-library/***“Most people underestimate how long it takes for anything meaningful to happen.” — Matt Paulson, MarketBeat Matt Paulson is the founder of MarketBeat, one of the largest independent financial media brands on the internet. What started as a scrappy side project eventually turned into a multi-newsletter business serving millions of investors, driven primarily by search, disciplined publishing, and long-term thinking.In this episode, Matt walks through how MarketBeat grew over time, why newsletters became a central growth lever, how monetization evolved alongside the audience, and what most creators misunderstand about “overnight success.” This is a grounded, reality-based look at building a newsletter business that lasts.KEY TAKEAWAYSWhy Matt believes most newsletter creators reach for paid growth far too earlyThe channel Matt actively avoided for years, even as others obsessed over itThe two most important metrics Matt pays attention toMarketBeat's sign-up flow that earns back paid growth spend The surprising channel Matt is most bullish on today and why it prints moneyWhat “organic growth” actually looked like when it wasn’t glamorousHow MarketBeat evaluated channels based on profit, not attentionThe point where “more traffic” stopped being the goalWhat Matt would double down on today if starting from zeroLINKS MENTIONEDMarketBeat.comMattPaulson.comMarketBeat YouTube ChannelNewMediaSummit.com (use GIR20 for 20% off your ticket)Take your newsletter to the next level with Chenell & Dylan — join GIR Pro todayAll of Chenell's Free Content → FOLLOW ON SOCIALChenell: Twitter | LinkedInDylan: LinkedIn | Substack | InstagramOUR NEWSLETTERSgrowthinreverse.comgrowthcurrency.netSubscribe & Leave a Review:Love what you’re hearing? Make sure to subscribe, and if you found this episode helpful, leave us a rating & review on your favorite podcast platform.

Get Matt's 1,000 Email Subscriber Formula: https://growthinreverse.com/matt-yt-download/***"The way to monetize a small, niche audience is not sponsorships — it’s higher-ticket services." — Matt McGarry, GrowLetter Matt McGarry has helped grow some of the largest newsletters in the world — including The Hustle, Milk Road, and 1440 — to millions of subscribers. But in this conversation, he makes a contrarian case: you don’t need a massive email list to build a highly profitable newsletter business.We dig into why sponsorships are a weak monetization strategy for most creators, how Matt generates $76+ per subscriber from LinkedIn, why short-form video is the most underutilized growth channel for newsletters right now, and how to think about business models before chasing scale.Matt also shares how he’s evolved his own newsletter past 50,000 subscribers, what growth channels are actually working in 2025, and why events, services, and higher-touch offers often beat low-ticket products — especially early on.KEY TAKEAWAYSWhy sponsorships are one of the weakest newsletter monetization pathsHow Matt earns $76 per LinkedIn subscriber (and why lead quality matters more than volume)How one YouTube video drove 1,000+ email subscribers with a simple lead magnetWhen not to start paid growth — and the exact criteria Matt uses before spending a dollarWhy newsletters should often monetize with services and consulting before productsThe biggest newsletter opportunity most creators are ignoring in 2026LINKS MENTIONEDMatt's 1k Email Formula BreakdownGrowletter.coNewMediaSummit.com (use GIR20 for 20% off your ticket)Matt's newsletter — The Newsletter OperatorChenell's on Matt's podcast Take your newsletter to the next level with Chenell & Dylan — join GIR Pro todayAll of Chenell's Free Content → FOLLOW ON SOCIALChenell: Twitter | LinkedInDylan: Twitter | LinkedIn | BlueskyOUR NEWSLETTERSgrowthinreverse.comgrowthcurrency.netSubscribe & Leave a Review:Love what you’re hearing? Make sure to subscribe, and if you found this episode helpful, leave us a rating & review on your favorite podcast platform!