About this episode

Tim Huelskamp shares the growth story of 1440, from 78 subscribers to 4.7 million, discussing key strategies and insights.

Stop losing subscribers with your onboarding — get Chenell's Subscriber Onboarding Course included in The Growth Vault: growthinreverse.com/vault This episode is a live recording from the 2026 Newsletter Conference in New York City where Chenell sat down onstage with Tim Huelskamp, co-founder of 1440 — the daily digest for more than 4.7 million curious readers. Tim shares the full arc of 1440's growth: from 78 subscribers to a media company generating roughly $1M in revenue per employee, including the unconventional early tactics, the Facebook ad playbook that still runs today, and the ambitious new "Topics" platform they're building to become the Pinterest for knowledge. KEY TAKEAWAYS Why Tim spent the first 7–8 months focused entirely on product before touching growth The counterintuitive decision to remove images from 1440 entirely The discovery that 3x'd sponsor revenue without adding a single new advertiser The bet on their "Topics" platform: what "Pinterest for knowledge" actually looks like LINKS MENTIONED 1440 Newsletter — 1440's daily digest (join1440.com) 1440 Topics — 1440's new knowledge platform (1440.io/topics) WhoSponsorStuff — Newsletter sponsorship intelligence…

People in this episode

Hosts: Chenell Basilio, Dylan Redekop

Guest: Tim Huelskamp

Topics covered

• subscriber growth
• email marketing
• onboarding strategies
• media company revenue
• digital advertising
• knowledge platforms

Keywords

• 1440
• subscriber onboarding
• media company
• Facebook ads
• Topics platform
• newsletter growth
• sponsor revenue

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: 1440, Facebook, Pinterest, WhoSponsorStuff

Places: New York City

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