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Simon Owens
simonowens.substack.com · Personal blog · on HN since 2019
Simon Owens writes a Substack newsletter on media business, covering creators, podcasts, newsletters and publisher strategy through interviews and case studies.
What HN saysCommenters call his paywalled case studies of media entrepreneurs especially good, and link him for examples such as a local newsletter with high paid conversion.
15HN people shared it
4linked it in comments
51stories submitted
216story points
10 months agolast shared
2019people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 18 Creators reveal their #1 growth hack2 people · 5 points · first shared 2022 · discussion on HN
- 2The Information's Paywall Strategy2 people · 3 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
- 3Is Spotify's podcast exclusivity strategy working?2 people · 2 points · first shared 2022 · discussion on HN
- 4The time it takes to run a paid newsletter1 people · 92 points · first shared 2020 · 36 comments on HN
- 5ScoopWhoop became one of India's most viral publishers1 people · 31 points · first shared 2021 · 13 comments on HN
- 6Audible is becoming more like Amazon Prime Video1 people · 9 points · first shared 2020 · 2 comments on HN
- 7MrBeast is changing the economics of YouTube1 people · 7 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
- 8How platforms like TikTok cause creator burnout1 people · 4 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
- 9Lessons I've learned while running a paid newsletter1 people · 3 points · first shared 2020 · discussion on HN
- 10Maria Brito used Instagram to build a 7-figure art consulting business1 people · 3 points · first shared 2022 · discussion on HN
- 11The gritty reality for Substack's middle class1 people · 3 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
- 12The creator economy is not failing to spread the wealth1 people · 3 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
- 13You don't need ads to monetize your media company1 people · 3 points · first shared 2020 · discussion on HN
- 14Why Medium Failed1 people · 3 points · first shared 2022 · 3 comments on HN
- 15How Josh Spector monetizes his 25,000 newsletter subscribers1 people · 3 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
What HN people wrote when they linked it
keiferski · 2023-11-07
I recently came across The Game Discoverer Newsletter, which seems to be about 100x more insightful and data rich than boilerplate journalism like Kotaku. They also have some other interesting data tools for game developers.
More broadly, I'm not sure general "journalism" really has a bright future outside of the big names that can field huge advertising budgets. I'm more convinced that niche sites should specialize on a specific topic and figure out a use-case that makes it worth subscribing to from a business perspective, not an ideological one.
Links:
1. A good overview post: https://simonowens.substack.com/p/how-the-gamediscoverco-newsletter
2. https://newsletter.gamediscover.co
3. https://gamediscover.co
exolymph · 2022-09-18
Congrats, that's awesome! Simon Owens has many articles about this – paywalled, ironically, but worth it IMO, and you could just pay for a month and then cancel. His case studies based on interviews with media entrepreneurs are especially good.
Link: https://simonowens.substack.com/archive?sort=new
milofeynman · 2026-01-13
We have this also. https://coppellchronicle.substack.com/
Article about it: https://simonowens.substack.com/p/this-local-newsletter-covering-a
40%+ conversion rate on substack.
rstuart4133 · 2023-07-12
You typically won't see rising ad revenues during a recession. When times are hard, or look like they could get hard, advertising is the first thing cut. Its a well established pattern. Eg, from https://www.createwithnova.com/blog/the-history-of-advertising-in-a-re… :
> After the last recession in 2008, the US ad market declined by 13%. Newspaper ad spend fell 27%, radio spend 22%, magazine spend 18%, outdoor spend 11%, TV spend 5% and digital 2%.
And yes, it happened this time too. From https://simonowens.substack.com/p/the-advertising-recession-is-definit… :
> Digiday published a recent overview of media earnings reports, and while earnings overall were a mixed bag, nearly every single company reported a significant dip in advertising revenue:
> Publishers reported declines in digital ad revenue from about 9% to 30% — worse than the 3% to 27% drop in ad revenue year over year reported for the fourth quarter of 2022. Executives continued to cite macroeconomic conditions and a soft ad market as major challenges to their businesses.