Conor Mac

At present, the paid version of the newsletter is actually running. I now refer to it as the "supporter" tier, which gives supporters access to a handful of more memos over the month. I've seldom alluded to it, and so I believe most of the readership is not aware. 

But to peel back the onion a little bit, because I am not sure how long you have been a reader. I started out in February 2020 with a paid newsletter; I'd exclusively write about stocks I was researching. That went well and in the following year, I was offered a grant from Substack to write full-time for a year. I took it, left my job, and continued writing the paid version (a requirement of my grant). By the time the year was done, I felt burned out. Like I was on a treadmill. Due to the nature of the content it felt neverending. I had wanted to alter the direction of the newsletter but felt the shift was so significant, it wouldn't be fair to do that while I was still running paid. 

So, I ripped the bandaid off, refunded everyone, and wrote for free for a year, while I figured out what I wanted my newsletter to be. If you've read for a long time, you will notice I no longer write exclusively about stocks. While I do occasionally, I prefer writing about the psychological backdrop of markets. I feel the stock market is one of the best petri dishes from which to examine human nature. How we act, why we do certain things, why history continues to rhyme, and how each new generation tends to fall for the same mistakes. From time to time, I will write a short article about a company I own or am researching. 

In short, I now explore the things I want to explore, and that creates less friction for writing. After a year of doing that, I decided I wanted to take another stab at writing paid again. In late 2022 I quietly opened up the support tier. Then, in February 2023, I let the audience know about it (some people found it organically before then). 

Despite having more than 3x the number of readers today, the supporter base is a fraction of what it used to be. I can live with that. Before I was focused on increasing the revenue of the newsletter in the short term. Today, I write in a way that will allow me to sustain my  creativity and avoid burnout. If its any good, supporters will follow. 

At present, the paid version of the newsletter is actually running. I now refer to it as the "supporter" tier, which gives supporters access to a handful of more memos over the month. I've seldom alluded to it, and so I believe most of the readership is not aware. 

But to peel back the onion a little bit, because I am not sure how long you have been a reader. I started out in February 2020 with a paid newsletter; I'd exclusively write about stocks I was researching. That went well and in the following year, I was offered a grant from Substack to write full-time for a year. I took it, left my job, and continued writing the paid version (a requirement of my grant). By the time the year was done, I felt burned out. Like I was on a treadmill. Due to the nature of the content it felt neverending. I had wanted to alter the direction of the newsletter but felt the shift was so significant, it wouldn't be fair to do that while I was still running paid. 

So, I ripped the bandaid off, refunded everyone, and wrote for free for a year, while I figured out what I wanted my newsletter to be. If you've read for a long time, you will notice I no longer write exclusively about stocks. While I do occasionally, I prefer writing about the psychological backdrop of markets. I feel the stock market is one of the best petri dishes from which to examine human nature. How we act, why we do certain things, why history continues to rhyme, and how each new generation tends to fall for the same mistakes. From time to time, I will write a short article about a company I own or am researching. 

In short, I now explore the things I want to explore, and that creates less friction for writing. After a year of doing that, I decided I wanted to take another stab at writing paid again. In late 2022 I quietly opened up the support tier. Then, in February 2023, I let the audience know about it (some people found it organically before then). 

Despite having more than 3x the number of readers today, the supporter base is a fraction of what it used to be. I can live with that. Before I was focused on increasing the revenue of the newsletter in the short term. Today, I write in a way that will allow me to sustain my  creativity and avoid burnout. If its any good, supporters will follow. 

Conor Mac

Why did you stop your paid newsletter on Substack?