Robert Cottrell (@robertcottrell) is the founder of The Browser, a daily email newsletter that recommends and summarizes five articles
  • For more Robert, check out the Podcast Notes from his appearance on David Perell’s North Star Podcast
Chris Best (@cjgbest) is the founder and CEO of Substack
Hosts: Andrew Chen (@andrewchen) and Sonal Chokshi (@smc90)
The Inevitable by Kevin Kelly explores the idea that, in the future, audiences will be able to sell their attention to advertising companies 
“Publishing advances one bankruptcy at a time” – Robert Cottrell
  • We’ve been financing good writing with bad advertising for far too long—it’s just not doable
  • Publications have become “attention monsters”
Robert, who looks at ~1,000 pieces of writing a day, has discovered that the best predictor for the quality of a writing piece is the writer
Technology is shifting market power away from publications and towards writers
  • Some individual writers have been able to build personal brands, such as Ben Thompson of Stratechery
If you’re going to build an intimate relationship with readers, an email newsletter, an RSS feed, and a social media presence are all essential tools
  • “I think RSS is the most undervalued thing in the entire universe” – Robert Cottrell
Any decent traditional publication writer can easily make their way to 10k followers on Twitter
  • And, if they stay consistent, they can reach 100k followers fairly quickly
The web has become quite noisy—there’s a ton of content, but not much value
  • Services such as The Browser help people find more signal
When viewing a publication, it’s important to examine their business model (be careful of websites that make money by keeping you addicted to their site)
Robert believes the best news magazine in the world, right now, is the German publisher, Spiegel
  • Global publications will gain more readers as translation technology advances. Eventually, translation technology will reach a point where people will be able to read an article and not tell which language it was originally written in.
Robert enjoys listening to books/articles just as much as reading them
AirPods are dramatically evolving the audio world—just as people are constantly on their phones, everyone will soon walk around with AirPods all day long
When you have a strong relationship with an audience that loves your work, you’re able to explore your current focus on a deeper level or more easily tackle new subjects areas
  • Think: If you love a writer’s current work, you’d probably enjoy them covering a new subject
Changes in the content distribution model have been favorable for creators
  • A top journalist at a publication creates more value than she can capture, but that changes if he/she has their own audience communication channel (through a website, newsletter, etc.)
There are multiple ways to monetize an online audience: subscription plans, conferences, consulting sessions, selling premium content, etc.
Every online community needs a benevolent dictator—someone who sets the tone and culture (this is often the website’s creator)
The world has shifted from the mindset of, “Never meet people from the internet,” to, “Only meet people from the internet“
  • Now that there are billions of people online, it’s much easier to connect with individuals who share your same interests
    • In effect, it’s as if “You’re putting out the bat signal for the people who are the same type of weird as you” – Chris Best 
“Starting a blog was the single most important decision that I made in my twenties. It’s the thing that unlocked a lot of other opportunities.” – Andrew Chen
  • Advice: Instead of spending the time and money attending conferences and networking events, share your valuable insights by writing online. This way, the network comes to you.
Ideally, you want to have control over your audience communication platform (so start an email newsletter!)
  • Here’s why: if your entire audience is on Twitter and Twitter gets shut down, you’re in big trouble
Robert used to run the editorial side of The Economist
  • Finding it difficult to start something new in a large company, Robert decided to venture out on his own with the goal of creating an Economist-type publication that was daily instead of weekly
When the U.S. economy crashed in 2008, Robert asked himself, “What can I do with no money sitting in my pajamas?”
  • The answer to that? He could read. This insight led Robert to create The Browser, a daily email newsletter that recommends and summarizes five high-value articles.
Rule #1: “If it doesn’t start well, the chances are vanishingly small that it will improve later” – Robert Cottrell
Rule #2: Ask yourself, “Is this still going to be a good piece to read in 6, 12, 24 months time?”
  • (The answer should be “yes”)
Rule 3: New isn’t always better; read more of what’s stood the test of time
The best writers are honest and have experienced what they’re writing about
It’s possible that, in the future, there’ll be a one-person media company worth $1 billion+
  • It could be a video game streamer, a podcaster, or even a newsletter writer