I love everything that Colossus puts out. Thanks for sharing this one!
Readit Newsnathanbarry commented on Flounder Mode – Kevin Kelly on a different way to do great work joincolossus.com/article/... · Posted by u/latentnumber
nathanbarry commented on Ask HN: Those with money-making side projects,how did you come up with the idea? · Posted by u/fearofcoding
I started ConvertKit (email marketing for creators) as a side hustle in 2013. In 2011 I had started blogging about my process for building iOS apps. In 2012 that turned into an email list on MailChimp and then a self-published book called The App Design Handbook (launched right here on HN).
I thought that social networks like Twitter and Facebook would drive most of the sales, but it was actually the 800 person email list I'd built. From then I became obsessed with how to optimize email marketing. I hacked MailChimp to organize lists, give away incentives for opting in, and more. But it was all hacks. In early 2013 I decided to build an email marketing tool specifically for bloggers and content creators like me.
I made it really easy to give away free incentives (ebooks, sample chapters, etc) to get subscribers, pioneered a new writing interface for time-based email sequences, and made subscriber organization really easy. It stayed a side project for two years (hitting $2k MRR and then flatlining).
In 2015 I decided to double down and make it my full time venture. From there I focused on direct sales and concierge migrations (a fancy way to say I'd do the full switch for you for free). In 2015 we grew from $2k in MRR to $98k. Then in 2016 from $98k to $500k.
Today ConvertKit is at $33M in revenue and has a team of 68, but it all started as a side project!
nathanbarry commented on Disney says it has more streaming customers than Netflix cbsnews.com/news/disney-s... · Posted by u/lxm
Disney even lets you pin shows so you don't have to keep searching for them!
I didn't know that! runs off to pin the animated robin hood for my 3 year old
nathanbarry commented on Impossible food sues to cancel earlier trademark owners impossiblehq.com/impossib... · Posted by u/justinmares
Yikes. I'm glad you're going public with this. Companies shouldn't be able to get away with legal bullying like this.
nathanbarry commented on Laura Deming, founder of the Longevity Fund, on being homeschooled blog.withprimer.com/laura... · Posted by u/mksm
Kids get vastly more indoctrination through homeschooling than at any state school.
What data do you base that claim on?
nathanbarry commented on Laura Deming, founder of the Longevity Fund, on being homeschooled blog.withprimer.com/laura... · Posted by u/mksm
After homeschooling, I also have a hunger for learning. It is the hunger of someone that did not always get enough to eat as a child and isn't going to let calories go by uneaten. The hunger of someone who suspects others know how malnourished they were as a kid and is afraid to look skinny. A hunger that keeps them up at night, telling them to eat and eat until sleep seizes them, then wakes them up early in the morning, so they can eat again.
Interesting. That wasn't my experience at all. Maybe hunger is the wrong word: love of learning is better.
I grew up to truly love learning and be excited for our weekly trips to the library to get more books. Then when I had access to the internet I spent so much time learning code and design. My parents taught me how to learn and then gave me access to whatever I needed (mostly just the library and a computer).
nathanbarry commented on Laura Deming, founder of the Longevity Fund, on being homeschooled blog.withprimer.com/laura... · Posted by u/mksm
I enjoyed reading this recent post from Nathan Barry, which tells some of his story: https://nathanbarry.com/homeschool/
Thanks for sharing! Glad you enjoyed the article.
nathanbarry commented on Laura Deming, founder of the Longevity Fund, on being homeschooled blog.withprimer.com/laura... · Posted by u/mksm
Such a great interview. It's fascinating to see how different education styles can have such a big impact.
While homeschooling isn't the right fit for everyone, I was homeschooled and it had a huge impact on me. My habits now for constant learning, working to complete tasks quickly, building projects with my hands (remodeling, woodworking, etc), and my desire to start companies all came from the time and energy that my parents put into crafting a unique education for me.
I'm so excited to see more and more parents considering homeschooling their kids.
Thanks for mentioning ConvertKit! We're happily building our niche product for creators and growing quickly.
Just a couple corrections, at the end of 2019 we were just under $20M ARR (Not $24M). Today we are at $22M ARR and 30,000 customers.
You can see all our numbers (updated in realtime) here on Baremetrics: http://convertkit.baremetrics.com
I'm happy to answer any questions.