Substack Wants To Become A Social Network; Beehiiv Wants To Stay Invisible

You are a normal person, so if you think about “people writing their own newsletters” you probably think: “Substack”.

But just as Xerox isn’t the only way to make photocopies, Substack doesn’t own the professional newsletter industry.

So let’s meet a competitor: Beehiiv, run by 32-year-old CEO Tyler Denk. Denk helped build Morning Brew’s newsletter machine before launching Beehiiv, and he has a clear pitch for creators thinking about using one versus the other: Substack wants readers to open its app, follow writers, and spend time in a Substack-branded social network. Beehiiv wants to disappear into the background while its customers build brands of their own.

Denk helped build Morning Brew’s newsletter machine before launching Beehiiv, which now powers everyone from independent journalists (previous Channels guests Lachlan Cartwright and Oliver Darcy both use it to power their media newsletters) to companies like Time and TechCrunch.

He joins me to explain why he thinks the newsletter business still has lots of room to grow — even though my inbox suggests otherwise — and why advertising, not just subscriptions, can support the next wave of independent media businesses.

Also discussed here: Why Denk used to think a business like his would most definitely be replaced by vibe-coded software, and why he no longer thinks that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices