The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
why aren't all 14 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 1 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable
Ben Gilbert: Internet niches aggregate millions globally despite local obscurity
“Niches are way bigger than you think they are.
So if you think you're writing about a niche topic, the internet being a global community of four-ish billion people means that any little niche, there might be six people in your geography that care about it in …”
Thompson: Niche differentiated content should monetize via subscriptions, not ads
“If you produce super highly differentiated content, that is something that. Is not going to appeal to the whole world, but to the people who like it, they'll really like it, and if you have that sort of audience, you should maximize your revenue per user, and …”
Thompson: Substack's seed deck pitched 'Stratechery in a box'
“Substack's seed deck says Shackery in a box. That was their pitch.”
Thompson: Rude Stratechery subscribers get full refunds and permanent bans
“In fact, if someone comes back and if they are just over the top rude or disrespectful or insinuating things about me, I will not just cancel their subscription. I will refund them their entire purchase and say, please just never come back.”
Thompson: Early newsletter subscribers held back fearing solo publications would shut down
“What I was wrong about is that the vast majority of people thought I would fail and go out of business. They didn't want to lose their money. And so they didn't subscribe, but once it was clear, I would be an ongoing entity. Then like, oh, okay, I guess my mon…”
Thompson: High-profile executive interviews do not drive Stratechery subscriptions
“The reality is interviews don't drive subscriptions. And so I do it because again, I want to push the tech product. I want people to use my podcast product.”
Thompson: Roughly 70% of Stratechery Subscribers Pay Annually
“I think my audience at this point is like 70% annual subscriptions.”
Thompson: CEOs crave external feedback because internal incentives breed sycophancy
“CEOs are surrounded by people telling them what they want to hear. That's their incentives, right? The reason why the VP is attacking me is because he's worried I'm going to make the VP look bad in front of the CEO, right? That's the concern. Whereas the CEO i…”
Thompson: Paid Stratechery subscribers tracked as fixed percentage of Twitter followers
“For a long time, my percentage of subscribers actually followed was a fixed percentage of my Twitter followers.”
Thompson: Half of Stratechery subscribers listen to audio instead of reading
“Half my subscribers now listen instead of read, which is amazing.”
Thompson: Stratechery gained 250 subscribers in 24 hours after hitting 1,000
“In November, I put a little post out. First, I simplified my model. I said, no more of this 300 level, cheap level, one price and one product. That's all you're getting. And then number two, I'm like, hey, I got a thousand subscribers. Business model works. Yo…”
Thompson: Stratechery tokenizes internal email links one level deep
“Every link to myself in a strategy email is tokenized and that token goes one link deep. So even if that email is forwarded to you can go read old stuff.”