@guilleflorvs and I asked @chrisbest how @substack got started. His answer: one writer, and a lot of manual work. In the early days, every new publication was created by hand. In Chris's words: "I had to go type it into the database to make the second one and the third one. It was very manual." Their first writer was China expert Bill Bishop (@niubi), and that single writer proved the idea. While they were in @ycombinator, they opened it up so anybody could get started. By the time we spoke, the platform had crossed five million paid subscriptions. ▫️ Paying customers can come before a polished product ▫️ Doing things by hand is a fast way to learn what people want Founders, what are you still doing by hand? Tell us in the replies. xitter.cf/guilleflorvs/status/21…

BREAKING: After 1 year in stealth, @rdominguezibar and I are launching GR Angel. We invest in exceptional founders, put them in front of one of the biggest tech audiences in the world: + 600k followers, + 400k subs & 10M weekly views. Across our personal angel investments and GR Angel, we’ve now backed: → A portfolio that has raised $1.2B+ → Companies including HappyRobot, Replit, Nozomio, Throxy, Apollo Atomics, Gru Space, Didit, Aktoria Robotics, Arga Labs, Hyperspell and QFEX → Alongside investors including a16z, Sequoia, Founders Fund and General Catalyst → 1 Exit: Portco went from $10Kmrr to 7M arr in close to 1 year Our distribution has helped startups get millions of views, one doubled its ARR and another received a $1M investment offer and much more. Now we’re looking for the most cracked founders worldwide, investing bigger checks and starting our growth phase, you can reach out to us 24 7 and hiring 👀