Podcast Summary

Podcast: The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway – First Time Founders
Episode: Has Substack Changed Media For Good?
Host: Ed Elson (First Time Founders)
Guest: Chris Best, CEO & Co-Founder of Substack
Date: February 1, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode explores Substack’s impact on the media landscape, the company’s founding story, and its broader implications for the future of culture and digital communication. Host Ed Elson sits down with Substack CEO Chris Best for a deep dive into the origins of Substack, its economic model, its role in restoring trust and quality in media, and how it aims to innovate beyond traditional social platforms.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Crisis of Trust in Media & Substack’s Purpose

• Decline of Trust: Ed opens with statistics showing plummeting public confidence in mass media and the industry’s struggle to adapt, driving journalists and audiences toward independent platforms.
• Substack’s Position:
  • Chris acknowledges media is in “a time of profound change” (04:39). He attributes this to technological disruption via the internet and compares it to past revolutions like the printing press.
  • Quote: “Anytime you have a major sort of revolution in media or information technology…you often get…a period of unrest or destabilization.” – Chris Best (04:39)
  • He sees Substack as a tool to rebuild trust by enabling direct, unmediated relationships between creators and audiences.

2. Origin Story: From Kik Messenger to Substack

• Chris’s Background: Co-founded Kik, learned about influencing online behavior at scale, and the responsibility that comes with creating virtual “places” where people interact (08:15).
• Personal Motivation: During a sabbatical, Chris reflected on the value of reading and the impact of media consumption on our identities.
• Inception: The original idea stemmed from an essay critiquing media’s broken business model; evolved into a pitch for a new platform.

3. What Makes Substack Different? The Business Model

• Beyond Blogging: Ed and Chris discuss how blogging existed before, but no sustainable business model supported writers building careers independently.
  • Quote: “Substack is just blogging with a business model.” – Chris (quoting critics, 12:02)
• Core Innovation: A direct-to-reader payment model; Substack takes 10% of creator revenue (13:58).
• Philosophy: Aligns economic incentives—writers get paid for quality, the platform only profits when creators succeed (15:10).

4. Product Evolution & the Social Media Question

• Expansion: Substack now supports podcasts, video, and “Notes” (its microblog feature), making it increasingly social (27:56).
• Platform Dynamics:
  • Ed probes whether the move toward social features risks recreating social media’s pitfalls (31:39).
  • Chris emphasizes the need for balance between accessibility/fun and depth/quality, rejecting both “eat your vegetables” and “cotton candy” extremes (33:54).
• Unique Incentives: Unlike ad-based platforms, Substack’s model discourages rage-bait and low-quality engagement (37:58).

5. The 'Heaven and Hell' Analogy: Incentives Shape Culture

• Rules of the Game: Chris draws on his Kik experience, arguing platforms become “heaven or hell” based on their economic and design choices.
  • Quote: “…you can kind of create a heaven or a hell with the exact same people.” – Chris Best (08:15)
• Substack’s Alignment: By only profiting when readers choose to pay for quality, Substack structurally incentivizes sustained value (37:58).

6. Vision for Substack: What Comes After Social Media?

• City in the Astral Plane: Chris likens Substack to a city in the “astral plane” of the internet—a cosmopolitan, intellectual hub rather than a mindless content casino (43:29).
  • Quote: “Substack is like a city in the astral plane of the Internet.” – Chris Best (43:29)
• Not Trying to Out-TikTok TikTok: Substack isn’t aiming for virality or raw time-spent; it’s positioned as an intellectual and cultural center, with room for an “index fund of culture” (51:53).
• Audience Export: Key to trust is letting creators take their audiences with them, reinforcing platform-user alignment (42:00).

7. Live Streaming, Video, and the Future of Content

• Embracing New Formats: The show covers Substack’s investment in video, podcasting, and live streaming tools—making long-form, interactive conversation seamless for creators (55:28).
• AI in Media: Chris predicts a barbell effect: hyperreal (AI-generated) and hyperhuman (live, authentic) content will both thrive, with Substack favoring the latter (57:30).

8. Community, Loneliness, and Real-Life Interactions

• Tackling Isolation: Ed posits the internet’s success increasingly reflects a population’s craving for real human interaction (59:29).
• Community as Value: Chris underlines Substack’s role in fostering authentic communities online—ones that even spill into physical meetups (61:04).
  • Quote: “People become friends in real life because of somebody they met in the blog comments.” – Chris Best (61:04)

9. Gen Z and the Decline of Reading

• Challenge Acknowledged: Ed notes declining literacy and attention in young people; Chris sees opportunity, not futility—Substack offers a “real alternative,” and people do crave depth when it’s accessible and authentic (63:25).
  • Quote: “I think young people want that as much as ever… people are hungry for that stuff.” – Chris Best (63:25)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Technological Change & Trust:
  “You don't get a choice of whether or not we get change, but we do get a choice in what kind of change we get.” – Chris Best (07:20)
• On Economic Alignment:
  “For every dollar Substack makes, the creators make nine.” – Chris Best (39:30)
• On Social Media vs. Substack:
  “We’re trying to create something that’s fun, but not a hellscape.” – Chris Best (33:54)
• On Platform Culture:
  “There’s this richness of 10,000 other tribes, other cultures... it can coexist in peace... your thing is there.” – Chris Best (51:53)
• On Content Creation:
  “If the thing you type is actually great... you’re going to get rich and famous.” – Chris Best (57:00)

Key Timestamps

• 04:39: Chris Best on societal distrust and technology’s impact on media models
• 08:15: Lessons from founding Kik and responsibilities of creating digital spaces
• 12:02: Substack’s differentiation: “blogging with a business model”
• 13:58: Explaining the paywall and Substack’s 10% revenue share model
• 15:10: Aligning business incentives for quality and trust
• 21:27: The COVID acceleration; creators’ mass exodus from legacy media
• 27:56: Product evolution—adding podcasts, video, and microblogging ("Notes")
• 31:39: Dilemma of growing audience while preserving quality and incentives
• 37:58: How Substack’s business model shapes a more civil, high-quality space
• 43:29: “Astral plane” analogy—Substack as an intellectual city online
• 51:53: Defining Substack’s culture—cosmopolitan, diverse, intellectually rich
• 55:28: Rationale for live streaming and the future of media production
• 61:04: Building real community and bridging digital/physical interactions
• 63:25: Addressing Gen Z’s reading habits and Substack’s role

Conclusion

The episode showcases Substack as both a reaction to legacy media’s decline and a proactive blueprint for digital culture’s future. Chris Best positions Substack’s creator-first, economic alignment and quality-focused model in stark contrast to the attention-for-sale incentives of classic social platforms. The conversation highlights not just business mechanics, but broader questions of cultural health, technology’s influence, and the structures shaping our public discourse.

For those pondering where media is headed, this episode offers a candid roadmap of the forces redefining our information ecosystem.

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