My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
Newsletter industry facing quality vs quantity growth crisis
Timeframe: 1-2 years for industry correction
What's Changing
Co-registration and low-intent growth tactics creating inflated subscriber numbers with poor engagement
Driving Forces
Pressure to show growth metrics for investors/acquisitions
Apple privacy changes making open rates unreliable
Easy access to co-registration platforms
Founders not understanding difference between vanity and real metrics
Winners
- Newsletters focused on organic, high-intent growth
- Quality measurement and validation services
- Platforms that reward engagement over subscriber count
- Newsletter acquirers who can identify quality
Losers
- Co-registration platforms and services
- Newsletters built on fake growth
- Advertisers who rely only on subscriber counts
- Platforms that only measure vanity metrics
How to Position Yourself
Focus on engagement metrics over subscriber count
Validate quality through reply rates and surveys
Build organic growth strategies that scale
Educate market about difference between quality and quantity
Early Signals to Watch
Example Implementation
“Newsletter platform creates engagement score combining reply rates, click-through rates, and subscriber surveys, making this the primary metric instead of just subscriber count.”