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Researched profile. Starter Story's AI research system compiled this page from 23 public sources — the founder didn't write it. Automated research can misread or misattribute a source, so treat figures as best-effort. How this works →
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How Newcomer Grew

Independent tech journalism focusing on Silicon Valley insights.

How did Newcomer grow?

Summary of the sourced claims below

Newcomer grew primarily through a deeply reported newsletter that attracted over 105,000 subscribers and a paying subscriber base of around 2,600 to 2,200 members. The growth was also supported by hosting exclusive dinners and marquee invite-only events sponsored by top venture capital firms, which helped build community and attract attendees. Additional growth channels included building a YouTube channel to reach a broader audience, leveraging personal networks for hand-inviting startup founders, and partnerships such as Substack's recommendation feature and guest post exchanges.

Channels

12 channels · grouped by how Newcomer grows

  • Newsletter

    · 4 mentions · 4 sources
    “Today, more than 42,000 people receive some version of Newcomer and more than 2,200 pay for it.”
    high
    Show 3 more quotes
    “If we estimate that around 4% of his subscribers end up paying for the newsletter, with 65,000 free subscribers it’s safe to say he has around 2,600 paying members.”
    medium
    “grow the newsletter and YouTube channel, and continue to find new ways to serve Silicon Valley insiders. Newcomer is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.”
    medium
    “A deeply reported newsletter on the inner workings of the startup industry. Helmed by Eric Newcomer with writing from Madeline Renbarger, Tom Dotan & Jonathan Weber. Over 105,000 subscribers”
    medium

  • Events

    · 2 mentions · 2 sources
    “When he held the Cerebral Valley AI Summit in March 2023, he had quite a few sponsors on board. ... it’s really nice to see a newsletter operator hosting an in-person event as another way to build community, grow subscribers, and add an additional revenue source.”
    medium
    Show 1 more quote
    “hosting exclusive dinners with us and sponsoring our events... We host an annual dinner with top marketing and communications leaders from across Silicon Valley’s top venture capital firms.”
    medium

  • Partnerships

    · 2 mentions · 2 sources
    “On the free side, Substack’s recommendation feature — which allows other newsletter writers to tout Newcomer — has created a very obvious inflection point in the growth of my free list.”
    high
    Show 1 more quote
    “Meanwhile, thanks to the hard work from our business lead Riley Konsella — along with our fantastic events contractors and help from co-host Volley — we’ve been gearing up for the best Cerebral Valley AI Summit yet.”
    medium

  • Earned media

    · 1 mention
    “A lot of these writers and contributors either wrote a “pre-event” piece or a “recap” article after the event. Some of these articles were featured in top publications, driving a lot of eyeballs to the event: The Verge: A Visit to Cerebral Valley TechCrunch: ‘There’s too much opportunity’ in Cere...”
    medium

  • Weekly newsletter

    · 1 mention
    “Five Years at NewcomerOkay, enough baby talk. Back to the newsletter business.”
    high

  • Content marketing

    · 1 mention
    “The key driver for paid subscriber growth has been clear: great stories. When I published deep dives into Tiger Global and Coatue I saw big subscriber spikes.”
    high

  • Referrals

    · 1 mention
    “we also do a ton of work hand-inviting people and leveraging my network to make sure that the best startup founders are at our events.”
    high

  • Event marketing

    · 1 mention
    “This year, we will have hosted four marquee invite-only events: Breaking the Bank, Deus Ex Medicina, Cerebral Valley London, and the upcoming Cerebral Valley AI Summit. We’re hosting sponsored dinners around all of our events — so a one-day event becomes a rallying cry for other intimate gatherin...”
    high

  • Personal network

    · 1 mention
    “Eric built incredible relationships while working as a full-time journalist, and he’s been able to translate those into helping grow his business.”
    medium

  • Video content

    · 1 mention
    “That’s one of the reasons we’re putting some energy into building out a YouTube channel to bring our reporting to a broader audience.”
    high

  • Guest posts

    · 1 mention
    “We have both published each other’s posts in our newsletters. Most importantly, Orosz is by far the largest Newcomer recommender, sending me more than 10,000 new readers.”
    high

  • Brand collaborations and giveaways

    · 1 mention
    “venture firms like Kleiner Perkins, Index Ventures, and Oak HC/FT have played a big role, hosting exclusive dinners with us and sponsoring our events. My hope is that we host dinners with so many venture funds... We’ve had Greylock, Sapphire Ventures, Felicis, Bain Capital Ventures, and many more...”
    medium

How 2,739 businesses grow

Of businesses with mapped growth channels, the share using each — Newcomer’s highlighted.
  • Referral/Word-of-mouth
    68% ◀
  • Social media
    60%
  • Search/SEO
    57%
  • Email
    48% ◀
  • Community
    35%
  • Content/Inbound
    33% ◀
  • Partnerships
    32% ◀
  • Paid ads
    24%
  • Events
    24% ◀
  • Press/PR
    17% ◀
  • Outbound/Sales
    17%
  • Marketplaces/App stores
    10%
  • Product expansion
    2%
  • Influencer partnerships
    2%
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