Background

Questions

1. ConvertKit focuses on “creators”. How do you define creators and is there a particular subset that you’re focused on, e.g., Substack focusing on journalists whereas Beehiiv is more tech people?
2. Can you talk about the very large creators that you serve, what do they need, how far can they grow on ConvertKit, do they graduate to a B2B-scale tool like Mailchimp?
3. ConvertKit bought FanBridge to go after email marketing for musicians. How important is niching down on verticals and what other verticals are there that are particularly big on ConvertKit? Do different verticals demand different product features?
4. Churn can be challenging for creator businesses. ConvertKit has driven down churn and net churn over time. Can you talk about what levers you have to reduce churn and drive expansion in a notoriously price sensitive segment?
5. Substack is increasingly flexing the power of its network to drive growth for its creators and lock-in to the platform. Beehiiv as its ad network. Can you talk about the role that Creator Network plays for ConvertKit and how you think about the network fitting in with SaaS? Who's going to have the biggest network between a Substack, a Beehiiv, and a ConvertKit? How do you think about the competitive dynamics along that front?
6. What degrees of freedom do you have as a bootstrapped business that Substack and Beehiiv don’t have as venture backed companies?
7. Substack is known for long-form journalism, while Beehiiv—coming out of Morning Brew—has a bit more of a kind of business vibe. Some of these folks are emphasizing creator tools inside of the app more to serve a particular type of end product. Is there a kind of signature for ConvertKit newsletters in terms of the actual content, and then how do you think about building creator tools for that signature group inside of the app?
8. You talked initially about breaking off pieces of Mailchimp—have you seen Mailchimp catch up at all? And how do you position against Mailchimp today?
9. How do you think about ConvertKit's positioning vis-a-vis Substack and Beehiiv?
10. How do you think about positioning towards helping creators grow, or is that a false promise? Fundamentally, as a SaaS provider, you might be like “Hey, we give you the tools to help you grow. We don't actually make you grow.”
11. If everything goes right for ConvertKit over the next five years, what does it become and how is the world changed?