How I built a 1M+ subscriber newsletter and top 10 tech podcast | Lenny Rachitsky

About this episode

Lenny Rachitsky shares his journey of building a successful newsletter and podcast in a candid conversation with his wife, Michelle.

People have been asking me to sit on the other side of the mic for a long time. With my wife’s debut children’s book, Charts for Babies , coming out next month, we figured: why not do it together? What followed was one of the most honest conversations I’ve had on this podcast. Michelle asked things no one else would think to ask—and many things I’ve never shared publicly. You’ll hear about the specific moments that pushed me to start the newsletter, how I think about quality and iteration, what most stresses me out, and the scariest moment of my life. This was so fun, and so special, and I hope you like it. We discuss: 1. The collection of moments that led me to what I do now 2. When I added a paywall, and how I knew it was working 3. The hidden treadmill behind shipping a newsletter post and podcast episode every week 4. The most stressful moments I’ve had in business and in life 5. How I think about stress, consistency, and keeping the business small — Pre-order Charts for Babies : https://www.amazon.com/Charts-Babies-Picture-Book/dp/1419785184 — Brought to you by: WorkOS —Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUs: https://workos.com/lenny Metaview —The…

People in this episode

Host: Lenny Rachitsky

Guest: Michelle

Topics covered

• newsletter growth
• podcast creation
• business stress
• quality and iteration
• personal journey

Keywords

• newsletter
• podcast
• business
• stress
• iteration
• paywall
• growth

Sponsors

WorkOS, Metaview, DX

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Charts for Babies

More episodes of Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

• Father of the iPod and iPhone on building taste, judgment, and creativity in the AI era | Tony Fadell · June 7, 2026 · 1h 35m
• A rational conversation on where AI is actually going | Benedict Evans · May 31, 2026 · 1h 20m
• The AI paradox: More automation, more humans, more work | Dan Shipper · May 24, 2026 · 1h 34m
• Why we’re at the beginning of the AI hardware boom | Caitlin Kalinowski (ex–OpenAI, Meta, Apple) · May 17, 2026 · 1h 39m
• How to build a company that withstands any era | Eric Ries, Lean Startup author · May 10, 2026 · 1h 39m
• Why cultivating agency matters more than cultivating skills in the AI era | Max Schoening (Head of Product, Notion) · May 3, 2026 · 1h 27m