Table of Contents
- Tell us about your product and what inspired you to start it?
- How long did it take you to acquire your first 50 customers, and what was your growth strategy?
- Which technology stack are you using and what challenges and limitations does it pose?
- What are some of the most essential tools that you use for your business?
- What have been some of the biggest insights you've gained since starting your entrepreneurial journey?
- Your recommended books/podcasts/newsletters etc.:
- What other products are you working on? (if any)
Ryan is the founder of a newsletter Workspaces - Bringing you inside the workspaces of inspiring creatives
08/2022 Update: https://workspaces.xyz got acquired by http://Loops.so
Tell us about your product and what inspired you to start it?
Workspaces is a twice-weekly newsletter that gives you a behind the scenes tour of creative WFH desk setups. As the COVID pandemic forced more and more workers to a remote-first environment, they also had to begin improving their setups at home. Workspaces was born to capture this shift and provide inspiration for those transitioning into this new structure as well.
How long did it take you to acquire your first 50 customers, and what was your growth strategy?
All of the subscribers of Workspaces are free subscribers. As the subscriber base grows, I am able to charge more for sponsorships in the newsletter.
The time for each subscriber milestone breakdown is as follows:
0 to 1,000 → 422 days
1,000 to 2,000 → 77 days
2,000 to 3,000 → 107 days
3,000 to 4,000 → 62 days
4,000 to 5,000 → 48 days
The list is now 6,500+ strong.
Which technology stack are you using and what challenges and limitations does it pose?
I have used Substack for the entirety of Workspace's life. The main challenges and limitations are that there is minimal customization for the email designs themselves. This makes it difficult to differentiate myself from the countless other Substacks hitting readers inboxes.
What are some of the most essential tools that you use for your business?
Twitter for almost everything. I secure new guests through Twitter DMs, I share new features on the @workspacesxyz handle and I am constantly communicating with past guests as they tag Workspaces in potential future spaces.
What have been some of the biggest insights you've gained since starting your entrepreneurial journey?
Consistency. As you can see above, it took 422 days for the newsletter to reach its first 1,000 subscribers. This felt like an eternity then and even more so now.
It would have been very easy to give up due to the traction at that time.Despite the slow initial growth, I never missed a publishing weekend. This consistency paid off and the growth began to snowball as more and more features began circulating and being shared.
Your recommended books/podcasts/newsletters etc.:
Book: Hooked by Nir Eyal and Ryan Hoover
Podcast: My First Million with Sam Parr and Shaan Puri
Newsletter: Dense Discovery by Kai Brach
What other products are you working on? (if any)
https://www.paperclip.so/ - private beta. Started in mid-2022.
