Substack Policy

You Should Probably Leave Substack

You should probably leave Substack. Here’s why and how.

Substack Doesn't Want You to Leave - Aaron Ross Powell

Substack's business model is unsustainable—unless they lock all their writers in.

Substack Doesn't Want You to Leave - Aaron Ross Powell’s Blog

Substack's business model is unsustainable—unless they lock all their writers in.

Freeing Ourselves From The Clutches Of Big Tech

Right to repair and other efforts to liberate technology from monopolistic corporations is a precondition for winning many vital societal battles.

The fundamental problem with Silicon Valley’s favorite growth strategy

The pursuit of monopoly has led Silicon Valley astray.

Has Substack’s subscription model really “maxed out?”

Scott Carney and Taylor Lorenz posted on Substack about downward subscriber trends they’re seeing. Carney pins it on subscription fatigue and feeling like “The only way to grow is to pillage the paid subscribers from other creators.” Lorenz questions Substack’s direction, saying “more and more like this app is becoming another social media feed.” When we recently wrote about writers who are leaving Substack, they mentioned control, pricing, and the social feature creep among their reasons for choosing competitors like Ghost and Behiiv. [Link: Writers are fleeing the Substack Tax | https://www.theverge.com/tech/927294/substack-tax-ghost-beehiiv | The Verge]

Opinion | The Monopolization of America (Published 2018)

In one industry after another, big companies have become more dominant over the past 15 years, new data show.

The strength of a monopoly can be guessed at by calling customer support

If you were an alien hovering above planet earth on a quick visit and trying to find out quickly which were its most dominant companies, you could probably do worse than try to reach their customer…

Substack Has A Nazi Opportunity

Dealing With Nazis, Or Not, Can Be A Brand. Substack’s Monetizing It.

Subscriptions start working for the middle

"Six-figure Substack incomes and subscriber numbers sure sound great, but they're not the only ends to the means."

The Game of Oligarchy | Brewster Kahle's Blog

I just invented and played a game today with my family, and it worked great– it was fun and we learned an important lesson. Similar to the game “Monopoly” which shows that one person ends up monopolizing even though you think the rules are “fair,” the game of Oligarchy shows that the “free market” leads inexorably to one person getting all the money and everyone else going broke. And fast.