$1m (per year) on Substack? Here's how
What Lenny’s 1M-subscriber journey means for small-scale creators
Hi Substacker,
In this week’s post, I’m diving into the secrets of a $1m newsletter. Yes, ONE MILLION dollars. It can be done.
Despite what the sceptics say, it is possible to make (very) good money from paid subscriptions alone on Substack. And you don’t have to be writing about writing to do it.
Lenny Rachitsky, creator of the $1m + newsletter Lenny’s Newsletter, for tech product managers, reached his one million dollar revenue milestone some years ago. In March 2025, he reached one million subscribers and shared what he learned about Substack growth in his post, 1,000,000. In this post I’m breaking down the ideas he shared and also drawing on insights from a follow‑up analysis by Growth in Reverse.
Here are the top 5 things you need to do to reach 1 million subscribers like Lenny.
1. Provide quality content that people want to share
Lenny says he tried every growth lever in his early days on Substack: paid ads, SEO, referrals, business development but almost none of them moved the needle. Instead, he says almost all his growth came from word of mouth and recommendations.
Lenny’s posts are structured so that someone can quickly skim, learn something concrete, and think, “This is useful! I’ll send it to send to my friend or colleague.”
My take: I get hundreds of readers through simple shares and recommendations and this is the most effortless and joyful way to grow because every recommendation is a tiny endorsement of my work.
How to do it:
Make your posts as good as you can. Readers recognise excellence and will tell their friends if they like what you do.
If your publication is educational, make sure your headline and subheadings are clear and skimmable so readers can easily assess how relevant the content is to them and others.
AskTell your readers to share your posts. Every single one of my food safety posts includes at least one call to action that says something like “Did you find this useful? Please share it with a friend or on LinkedIn and help grow our food safety community”.If you’re ready to ask other writers for recommendations through the Substack system, use the advice in my post for best practices: How to Get More Subscribers with Substack Recommendations
2. Stick with it (then stick with it some more)
One of the big lessons from Lenny’s 1,000,000 post is that growth doesn’t come from “going viral”. Newsletter success is a long‑haul game where regular, small actions compound over time.
Lenny didn’t suddenly hit 1M‑plus subscribers after a couple of popular posts; he spent five years publishing, interviewing, tweaking and gradually upgrading his publication.
My take: I concur. Later this year I’ll hit my five-year milestone on Substack. I’ve had many disheartening plateaus in growth where I’ve thought “that’s it, there’s no one left to subscribe to me!” and yet every plateau has ended, and my subscriber numbers have continued to climb. Better still, the more subscribers you have, the easier it is to grow, because there are more people sharing your content (see point 1).
How to do it: Set yourself a minimum ‘run time’ to test your idea on Substack - I recommend 6 months. Commit to regular weekly posting and focus on building habits and getting to know your readers before making any judgements or pivots. Choose a simple, repeatable format so you can keep posting even on low‑inspiration days and expect subscriber numbers to plateau regularly.
3. Borrow an audience, then own them
Something that Lenny has mentioned helped him in the early days was penning two guest posts for other newsletters. This gave him access to existing audiences that he could then convert into his own subscribers.
My take: Guest posting gets your work in front of new readers who are already reading newsletters.
How to do this: The key to successful guest posting is to write super-high-quality content for someone else’s publication. Your aim: get their audience so excited by what you wrote that they will subscribe to you too. You can learn how to find and select publications for guest posting and other collaborations in my post: Collaborations for Small Publications.
4. Publish in two or more places, but own one
One of the most useful lessons from Lenny’s journey is the power of sharing your ideas across platforms—guest‑writing, podcast appearances, social posts—while always steering people back to Substack as the central hub.
This was particularly relevant when Lenny started out, as Substack Notes did not exist, meaning all his subscribers had to come from external platforms. I still get most of my food safety subscribers from outside of Substack.
My take: Do not rely solely on the Substack universe for distribution. If you want your publication to grow, you need to be meeting new readers in other places as well. Think LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, word-of-mouth, in-person events, webinars and conferences… anywhere you can ‘meet’ people who are interested in your topic.
How to do it: Use social media channels to demonstrate your thinking and build trust with potential readers, but direct everyone to your Substack newsletter. Think of your Substack publication as the “home base” where you own your audience without relying on an algorithm, and can build a deeper relationship with them.
5. Think of your publication like a product, not a diary
Lenny treats his newsletter as a scalable product with clear positioning and a repeatable growth loop. He didn’t just start a blog; he built a clear product with a name, a niche, and a repeating format that people could rely on.
My take: Lenny’s newsletter doesn’t feel random. It’s structured like a product, with a clear promise, predictable format, and a value proposition for his readers. This is an important element to his success.
Structure and predictability are seriously underrated by many Substack creators. Predictability allows readers to feel confident of what they will get each time they open an email from you. It’s this confidence that encourages people to open your emails, click on your posts and stay subscribed.
How to do it: Think of your readers as valued customers, and pay attention to their ‘customer journey’…. How do they ‘meet’ you? How do they get to know you? What encourages them to subscribe? What encourages them to open your emails, click on your posts and go deeper with you?
Make sure you welcome new readers properly, show them how to make the most of their subscription, provide them with context when you appear in their inbox, treat them like valued customers by giving them the kind of content they signed up for and encourage them to spread the word about your writing.
There you have it, 5 tips to get you on the path to 1 million subscribers.
Have a fantastic weekend, see you next week,
Karen
P.S. Want a guided Substack walk-through and personalized tutorial with me? I’ll guide you through your dashboard, help you optimize your settings and get you set up right. Or, if you’re already set up and confident, I’ll give you a backstage tour of my $29K dashboard and strategies for swiping – your choice.
My ultra-popular one-off one-hour strategy sessions re-open next week. To be first in line, send me a DM and I’ll save you a spot.
Thank you for sharing this journey and story.