His private newsletter with 1.5k subs earns $1M ARR

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Newsletter & Email Growth: Growth In Reverse

Chenell Basilio and Dylan Redekop

54 episodes

2 days ago

Growth In Reverse is the must-listen podcast for anyone serious about growing an email list and turning a newsletter into a thriving business. Hosted by Chenell Basilio and Dylan Redekop, two leading voices in the newsletter space, this show pulls back the curtain on how today’s top newsletter operators actually grow and make money. Episodes include deep-dive teardowns of the strategies behind the most successful newsletters. You’ll hear how creators like Justin Welsh, Codie Sanchez, Sahil Bloom, and other creator founders are building loyal audiences and turning subscribers into revenue. Learn how they attract traffic, increase conversions, boost retention, and scale without burning out. Whether you're launching your first newsletter or refining your growth engine, Growth In Reverse gives you proven tactics you can use right away. From onboarding systems and referral programs to sponsorships and paid products, this podcast helps you grow faster and smarter. If you’re ready to stop guessing and start applying what works, tune in and learn how the best are building newsletters that last.

All content for Newsletter & Email Growth: Growth In Reverse is the property of Chenell Basilio and Dylan Redekop and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Marketing

Business,

Entrepreneurship

His private newsletter with 1.5k subs earns $1M ARR

Newsletter & Email Growth: Growth In Reverse

1 hour

2 months ago

His private newsletter with 1.5k subs earns $1M ARR

Join our September Social Growth Challenge: https://growthinreverse.com/social

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“You have to be first—or you have to be best. That's how you win at paid content." — Nathan May, The Feed Media

In this episode, we interview Nathan May, founder of The Feed Media.

Nathan shares how he turned a small, private newsletter into a $1M ARR business in under a year, and how his agency helps some of the biggest creators and media companies scale their audiences with paid growth.

We dig into the playbooks behind The Feed Media, the experiments that worked (and the ones that didn’t), and why even a small but mighty list can generate outsized revenue. Whether you’re looking to monetize a niche newsletter or scale a larger media brand, Nathan’s story offers a unique perspective on growth and revenue.

>>Get 30+ video lessons and ideas for optimizing your newsletter: https://growthinreverse.com/vault

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The surprising first step Nathan took before writing a single newsletter issue
Why building around a niche community gave him an unfair advantage
The revenue model he used before sponsors ever came knocking
How The Feed Media structured its first monetization funnel
The newsletter flywheel Nathan swears by for compounding growth
The counterintuitive move that actually boosted subscriber trust
Why his first 1,000 subs mattered the most
The overlooked channel that drove some of his fastest growth
How Nathan would start & scale a B2B newsletter today
The single most important metric he tracks inside The Feed Media

LINKS MENTIONED

TheFeedMedia.com
Nathan May on LinkedIn
Ask us a question or submit a podcast topic idea: growthinreverse.com/questions
Get Chenell's brand-new course: The Growth Vault — newsletter templates, growth strategies, and real examples you can implement at your own pace.
Growth In Reverse PRO Community
Want your newsletter roasted? Submit it here.
Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: https://growthinreverse.com/archive/

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL

Chenell: Twitter | LinkedIn | Substack
Dylan: LinkedIn | Bluesky

OUR NEWSLETTERS

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Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.