Builder's Bench:

Pay Attention to What Bugs You

The $40 Forever Experiment:

How Frustration Became a Growth Strategy

Back in May, I hit a wall.

Not a dramatic, throw-your-laptop-across-the-room kind of wall—more of a quiet, simmering frustration that snuck in between checking my Substack stats and reconciling my credit card statement.

On paper, things looked fine. I had a healthy list. Open rates were solid. Readers were engaging.

But paid subscriptions? Flatlined.

Month after month, the needle barely moved. I kept tinkering with CTAs, updating my paywall language, whispering sweet nothings to Stripe. Nothing.

And then it hit me: I was building a model I didn’t even like as a customer.