6 Months of The Hybrid Hacker

A quick overview of the last 6 months of this newsletter, from the south of France.

Jun 22, 2023

Greetings from France!

This is a special and short edition of The Hybrid Hacker. I'm writing this issue from the very south of France, where I'm spending a couple of weeks on a mini-van trip with my family. I was supposed to prepare my regular weekly essay in advance, as I've been doing for the past 6 months, but honestly, I couldn't manage to do that due to a few reasons:

🛜 Limited connectivity/electricity/environment: since I didn't plan much for this trip, I often find myself in remote areas with very limited connectivity and electricity. Additionally, being someone who usually works with multiple monitors, mechanical keyboard, and ergonomic mouse, it's not ideal to be writing with just my iPad Pro. As I mentioned, I'm on a mini-van, so I couldn't bring all the gadgets I usually have for nomadic work.
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Desire to spend time with my family: despite my efforts to dedicate as much time as possible to my family, it never feels like enough. My job, which is also my passion, demands a significant amount of time throughout the year, and now with the newsletter, it's even more challenging. During these two weeks of vacation, I made a conscious decision to prioritize my family.
😴 Need for some rest: writing this newsletter consumes at least 5 hours of work every week, not to mention the additional time spent on research for my essays. Considering that I have a demanding full-time job that requires intense focus and effort, it's quite time-consuming. I often find myself writing late at night or very early in the morning (like now at 5 am 🥱).

The lucky aspect of this situation is that this week marks the 6-month milestone since I started The Hybrid Hacker newsletter. So, just like in the previous quarter, instead of my essay, I want to share some stats and updates with you.

📊 Some Numbers

In the last quarter, and particularly in the past month, we experienced substantial growth. Over 200 new subscribers have joined, and I extend a warm welcome to them!

The newsletter's open rate has remained consistent and solid at 47%. This is the most crucial metric for me since it indicates that my writing is engaging for readers.

The main factors contributing to this growth were:

Increased referrals from the Substack network since more and more people are recommending this newsletter (this has been incredibly powerful!)
Organic traffic from search engines
Due to time constraints, I shifted my focus to LinkedIn and reduced my activity on Twitter. This concentrated effort resulted in better content that attracted many new subscribers.

Connections

Apart from subscriber count, which provides energy and encourages consistency, I've been actively reading other newsletters and establishing new connections.

Let me mention a few:

Luca from Refactoring: as I've mentioned in the past, this is one of the best and most inspiring newsletters I read. It has provided me with great inspiration for The Hybrid Hacker (although my drawings can't compare to Luca's).
Luca from The Owl and The Beatle: although I had already met Luca in the past, starting The Hybrid Hacker gave me the opportunity to exchange feedback on writing and managing a newsletter. Moreover, Luca's newsletter is an excellent resource for first-time managers and leaders.
Gabriele from Remote.How: a few months ago, I connected with Gabriele, and we've been engaging in extensive conversations about our experiences and newsletters. His newsletter is a valuable resource for remote managers.
Gregor from Engineering Leadership: I recently met Gregor, who runs an awesome newsletter on leadership and engineering. He even interviewed me about transitioning from an engineer to a manager, and the interview was featured in the TLDR newsletter!
Amy Mitchell from Product Management IRL: while I haven't directly met Amy yet, I'm confident we'll have the chance to connect. Amy, Product Director at Dell, writes an exceptional newsletter on product leadership.

What's Next

Despite the limited time available, I have major plans for The Hybrid Hacker. Let me provide you with a sneak peek:

Landing page: I'm currently working on a landing page for the newsletter, which will soon be released on the new domain I purchased (hybridhackers.net). I adore Substack, but it has its limitations, and I'd like to include more information about the benefits of subscribing.
I aim to conduct interviews with leaders and managers to directly share their experiences with my subscribers. You can expect to read the first one very soon!
I'm eager to find a way for all subscribers to interact more, fostering connections not only with me but also among themselves. I'm exploring various tools to create a supportive community.
Once I return from my vacation, I'll set up the new Substack Referral System. Get ready for some exciting perks!