Growth In Reverse
Chenell Basilio and Dylan Redekop
Recent Episodes
This special edition of the Growth In Reverse podcast is the full live talk I gave at the Newsletter Marketing Summit in Austin TX this past February.
Over the past two years, I’ve studied the growth of the most successful newsletters in the world—those who’ve hit 50,000+ subscribers—and I noticed something interesting.
There's one thing every single one of them has in common. It's not some sexy growth hack or a secret referral program. It’s something way more powerful and often overlooked.
In this episode, I walk you through that key insight, plus I break down the proven tactics that top creators are using today to grow their lists without relying on social media.
This talk might just change how you think about newsletter growth entirely.
→ Take your newsletter to the next level with GIR Pro >>
→ Get free access to 75+ newsletter Growth Levers here >>
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Why it’s easier than ever to hit 50k subscribers (and what’s changed in the last 3 years)
- The “IV Content” framework: what insanely valuable content really looks like
- The 5 (maybe 6!) categories of content that trigger growth
- How top creators like Yossi Levi and Justin Moore craft content people have to share
- The secret weapon of every successful newsletter? People.
- Creative collabs and the genius of Maya Voje’s newsletter placement strategy
- CJ Gustafson’s “triple stack” approach to paid guest content (so smart)
- Crowdsource your way to credibility: what Chris Hutchins did to build a top 10 business podcast
- The final takeaway: Be subscribe-worthy (and stop chasing the wrong questions)
DEEP DIVES & LINKS MENTIONED
- Mario Gabriele's Deep Dive
- Yossi Levi's Deep Dive
- Deep Dives on Lenny Rachitsky: Part 1 || Part 2
- Aakash Gupta's Deep Dive
- Dickie Bush's Deep Dive
- CJ Gustafson Deep Dive
- 'Antisocial' Newsletter Growth Course waitlist
- Want your newsletter roasted? Submit it here.
- Growth In Reverse PRO Community
- Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: https://growthinreverse.com/archive/
FOLLOW ON SOCIAL
OUR NEWSLETTERS
Subscribe & Leave a Review:
If you found this episode valuable, take a second to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! It helps more newsletter creators find the show. Plus, if you submit a review, you’ll get priority for your own newsletter roast!
Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.
"Quantity leads to quality, but when you find a winner, you have to double down." — Dave Kline, MGMT Playbook
Dave Kline went from leading teams at Bridgewater to building a million-dollar creator business—with zero prior experience on social media. But the real secret behind the success? His wife, Marsden (Mar). While Dave built a public-facing brand on Twitter and LinkedIn, Mar worked behind the scenes to shape the vision, voice, and strategy of their business.
Then, she stepped into the spotlight.
In just five months, Mar grew her LinkedIn following from 0 to now over 74,000—outpacing Dave’s own growth trajectory. Together, they’ve built a powerhouse content engine, a six-figure cohort-based course, and a 40,000+ subscriber newsletter—all without a big team or flashy tech stack.
In this episode, we dive into how Dave and Mar got started, the pivots they made (including why Mar had to force Dave into launching a newsletter), and the systems they’ve built to keep their creator business lean and profitable.
Join us as we go behind the scenes with the duo behind the MGMT Playbook.
Get 75+ Growth Levers used by top newsletters: https://growthinreverse.com/gll/
Join a community of like-minded newsletter creators: https://growthinreverse.com/pro/
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The moment that forced them to pivot from SEO to social—and what happened next
- How a single thread about delegation sparked their entire course business
- A huge lesson learned by not turning "OFF" their double opt-in setting
- Mar’s “quiet MVP” role, and why she finally hard-launched her brand
- The reason they waited a full year to launch their newsletter (and why that was a mistake)
- How they’re using sports metaphors and storytelling to keep content engaging
- The surprising stat that made Mar pick up the pen and start posting
- What they would’ve done differently if starting from scratch
- ...and much more!
DEEP DIVES & LINKS MENTIONED
- Dave Kline GIR Deep Dive
- Dave on LinkedIn | Twitter
- Mar on LinkedIn
- MGMT Playbook (Dave & Mar's newsletter)
- Their Maven Courses: MGMT Fundamentals || MGMT Accelerator
- Check out ALL the Growth In Reverse Deep Dives →
FOLLOW ON SOCIAL
OUR NEWSLETTERS
Subscribe & Leave a Review:
Love what you’re hearing? Make sure to subscribe, and if you found this episode helpful, leave us a rating & review on your favorite podcast platform!
Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.
Lenny Rachitsky just crossed 1 million subscribers with his Substack newsletter, aptly named Lenny's Newsletter.
Chenell has written a few deep dives on Lenny (How he reached 377k subscribers, and how he got 18k paid subscribers).
So we thought it would be interesting to see what he's done to accelerate his growth to over 1M subscribers over the past few years—and share our biggest takeaways and reasons for his growth.
→ Take your newsletter to the next level with GIR Pro >>
→ Get free access to 75+ newsletter Growth Levers here >>
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Why we’re obsessed with Lenny’s story—and the moment his growth exploded
- What separates his content from the rest (hint: exclusivity + deep research)
- Using a mini-series as a content inflection point
- Lenny’s “Ikigai” and expanding beyond just product content
- The puzzle-piece approach to building a content library
- His exact strategy to get from 100 to 1M subscribers
- Substack recommendations: how 5,000+ newsletters helped him explode
- Podcasting as a high-ROI content machine
- Why guest posts became his growth and quality engine
- Key takeaways you can apply: quality, consistency & “stick-with-it-ness”
LINKS MENTIONED
- Lenny's Newsletter
- Lenny's 500k milestone post
- Lenny's 1M milestone post
- Chenell's Deep Dives on Lenny: Part 1 || Part 2
- Aakash Gupta's Deep Dive
- CJ Gustafson Deep Dive
- Daren Smith's newsletter roast
- 'Antisocial' Newsletter Growth Course waitlist
- Want your newsletter roasted? Submit it here.
- Growth In Reverse PRO Community
- Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: https://growthinreverse.com/archive/
FOLLOW ON SOCIAL
OUR NEWSLETTERS
Subscribe & Leave a Review:
If you found this episode valuable, take a second to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! It helps more newsletter creators find the show. Plus, if you submit a review, you’ll get priority for your own newsletter roast!
Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.
“The easiest way to lose potential subscribers is to make them work too hard to understand what they’re signing up for.”
(Watch this episode on YouTube -->)
We sent out the call to get your newsletter roasted. Over 20 listeners submitted their newsletters.
And today we're roasting the first one: Craftsman Films
Shout-out to Daren Smith of Craftsman Creative and Craftsman Films for being our first guinea pig with this experimental episode.
→ Take your newsletter to the next level with GIR Pro >>
→ Get free access to 75+ newsletter Growth Levers here >>
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Why we're doing a newsletter roast & how you to submit yours
- Roasting Daren’s newsletter landing page—what *not* to do with yours
- The thank-you page mistake that might be costing subscribers
- Breaking down the welcome email—what works, what’s missing
- A surprising tagline Daren should be using everywhere
- The power of storytelling and why Daren should lean into his expertise
- Social media strategy: what he's getting right and what could be better
- Final takeaways: How Daren (and you!) can optimize your newsletter experience
- ...and more!
LINKS MENTIONED
- Daren's Craftsman Films newsletter
- Want your newsletter roasted? Submit it here.
- Growth In Reverse PRO Community
- Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: https://growthinreverse.com/archive/
FOLLOW ON SOCIAL
OUR NEWSLETTERS
Subscribe & Leave a Review:
If you found this episode valuable, take a second to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify! It helps more newsletter creators find the show. Plus, if you submit a review, you’ll get priority for your own newsletter roast!
Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.
"The future of newsletters isn’t just email." — Chenell Basilio
Missed the Newsletter Marketing Summit in Austin?
Well, Chenell didn't!
She was there IRL—and she's sharing her biggest takeaways from the first annual summit.
Not only did Chenell attend the event, she was a speaker! Listen in to find out more about her talk and the insights and trends she discovered while in Austin TX.
→ Take your newsletter to the next level with GIR Pro >>
→ Get free access to 75+ newsletter Growth Levers here >>
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Podcasting and YouTube as trust builders: why audio & video deepen audience connections
- The rise of deep-dive content and why in-depth research matters more than ever
- IV Content: Why this type of content is the real growth hack for newsletters
- AI, newsletters, and the future of content: what’s changing and how to adapt
- Steph Smith’s best tools for discovering trending content and hidden insights
- The power of community: how meetups and online groups are shaping the industry
- Social media fatigue: why creators are shifting away from platform dependency
- A smarter way to grow: how top newsletters are scaling without social media
- ...and more!
DEEP DIVES & LINKS MENTIONED
- Newsletter Marketing Summit
- Justin Gordon's Just Go Grind newsletter
- Jermaine Brown's newsletter
- Yossi Levi GIR Deep Dive
- GummySearch
- AppMagic
- Newsletter Marketing Summit Replays (Get $100 off with code GIR100)
- Adam Ryan's Perpetual piece
- Want us to roast your newsletter? Submit it here.
- Growth In Reverse PRO Community
- Check out past Growth In Reverse Deep Dives: https://growthinreverse.com/archive/
FOLLOW ON SOCIAL
OUR NEWSLETTERS
Subscribe & Leave a Review:
Love what you’re hearing? Make sure to subscribe, and if you found this episode helpful, leave us a rating & review on your favorite podcast platform!
Thanks to Tim Forkin for editing these episodes.