Best Newsletters to subscribe to - For Founders from IndieHackers

Newsletter recommendation from James, Indiehackers

Marketing newsletters

Let’s start with marketing because I have a hunch that many of us are looking to learn more about this important topic. Here they are, in no particular order:

  • Stacked Marketer: Curated marketing news, tech, and advice by @Manu_C. I’ve been on this list for a while now. They have a fun approach and provide lots of short summaries of marketing news and tactics. Free.
  • tl;dr Marketing: Marketing news curated by @SaijoGeorge. Each email includes a ton of links with short summaries. I’m a subscriber and have found some great nuggets in his links and summaries. Free.
  • Growth & User Acquisition: @zerotousers has analyzed hundreds of interviews to figure out which acquisition channels consistently work for founders. He summarizes those opportunities and more in his weekly newsletter. Free.
  • Marketer Crew: The latest news, tools, and insights from @FalakDigital. I subscribed to this one fairly recently and was pleasantly surprised. Tons of great info in each email. Free.
  • Gene’s Weekly: Weekly growth, marketing, and design tips. I’ve been following @genemachine’s work for a while now and it’s always impressive. Freemium.
  • Positive Human: B2B SaaS marketing and growth with a really nice, human spin. I’m a subscriber and I’ve enjoyed each email. I’m not alone — @andreboso said, “If you’re interested in SaaS growth marketing you should subscribe to Positive Human by @iammarcthomas.” Free.
  • Marketing Examples: @harrydry provides actionable marketing tips and writeups. I’m a subscriber and I really enjoy his content. Super interesting, and it always feels very personable. Free.
  • Zero to Marketing: @andreboso offers writeups on growth strategies from real companies. Free.
  • Honey Copy: For @KenyanChale, “Honey Copy is one of my favourites because it focuses on the lifeline of any business… SALES… Cole writes on how to sell ‘ice to eskimos’ using copy.” Free
  • Raisin Bread: Includes Q&As with top marketers, as well as news, tool discounts, and more. Can be consumed in 5 minutes. I saw this one mentioned by a number of people. Free.

Growth hacking newsletter

Here’s an interesting subset of marketing newsletters that specifically focus on growth tactics.

  • Growth Bites: Bite-sized growth tactics filled with practical advice. I should note that I do have a hand in the creation of this newsletter, so I’m biased. Free.
  • The Growth Newsletter: @Julian of Demand Curve has a great newsletter that I’ve been subscribed to for a while now. Each edition has a few super solid growth tips from experts. Free.
  • Growth Currency: By Dylan T (@growthcurrency), Growth Currency offers curated resources, tools, and courses for creators. I recently became a subscriber and have enjoyed the emails. Tons of content in each one. Free.
  • Growth Unhinged: The newsletter’s creator, Kyle Poyar, calls it “an unorthodox take on how to grow a SaaS company.” I’m a subscriber and each email includes interesting commentary along with some interesting links. Free.
  • Ariyh: An acronym for “Academic Research In Your Hands,” Ariyh is stellar resource from @tdmck. I’ve been reading it for a long time now and it offers tons of science-backed advice for growing a company in an easily digestible format. Free.
  • Kickstart Side Hustle: By @Michal_kanka, this newsletter focuses on psychology and how to use it in your marking strategies. I’m a subscriber and have learned some very interesting tidbits. Free.
  • Growth Memo: @Kevin_Indig’s newsletter on SEO and growth. I’m a subscriber. Lots of thorough write-ups and case studies. Free.
  • The Growth TLDR: Interesting write-ups by @kflanagan on various topics to do with business and growth. I’m a subscriber. Free.
  • Epic Growth: By @pisarevsky, get B2B SaaS growth insights. I’m a subscriber and I’ve learned a lot from this newsletter. Free
  • First 1000: Weekly articles on how different companies got their first 1000 customers. Not a subscriber, but I saw it mentioned a few times and checked it out — the articles look very thorough.

SEO newsletters

And while we’re talking about marketing subsets, here are some SEO newsletters that will help you up your game.

  • SEO Notebook: Tons of great tips, strategies, and tricks from Steve Toth and other experts. I’ve been a subscriber since I first got into SEO and every email has had some really solid information in it. Free.
  • Ross Simmonds: Essays on how successful businesses do what they do by @thecoolestcool and his team. Really great long-form writeups. I’m a very happy subscriber. Free.
  • Ahrefs Weekly Digest: Weekly articles from their blog (and elsewhere). I’ve found some real gems here. Free.
  • The weekly SEO: SEO articles curated for you each week. I’m a subscriber and it’s pretty good but I haven’t personally found it very actionable. Free.
  • #SEOFOMO: Top SEO news and resources delivered to your inbox. I’m a subscriber and it comes highly recommended by experts. Free.

Entrepreneur newsletter

Now that we’ve discussed marketing, let’s get into more general entrepreneurship newsletters.

  • Indie Hackers: News snippets, interesting articles, top posts, and tips — if you haven’t already signed up, it’s definitely worth it. I really enjoy reading it. Note: I’m a little biased because I work with IH, but I don’t work on this newsletter — it’s just really good. Free.
  • Morning Brew: They’ve got a few different newsletters — news, marketing, tech, finance, and more. We’ve all heard of them. From what I can tell on IH, people either swear by Morning brew or find little value in it. Free.
  • For the Interested: Daily tips, articles, and tidbits from @joshspector. I’ve been subscribed to this for quite a long time, and it’s been super valuable to me. Valuable (and entertaining) stuff. Free.
  • This is How I Do It: @joshspector also has this paid newsletter. I’m not a subscriber but it includes practical advice for creators and sounds solid to me. $120/year.
  • The Bootstrapped Founder Newsletter: Essays by @arvidkahl on bootstrapping, audience building, and building in public. Recommended by @polisaez. Free.
  • Maker Mind: @anthilemoon delivers neuroscience-based strategies for makers. @petecodes said, “A great newsletter for staying sane while you work as an entrepreneur. Anne-Laure Le Cunff breaks down neuro science in an accessible way and gives tips on how to have a healthier mind and be more productive.” Free.
  • Ungrabbed: By @sasan, get high-quality domain opportunities sent right to your inbox. @ramy said, “Ungrabbed is the only newsletter I open without fail even though I’ve never purchased a domains they’ve featured. FOMO is what makes it so effective.” Free.
  • Check Your Pulse: This is a newsletter about tech and startups, but it’s designed to make you feel more human. I like the sound of that. Free.
  • YC’s Newsletter: Read what the folks at YC are reading. Free.
  • hackernewsletter: Curated articles from Hacker News. @ayewo said, “[Hackernewsletter] is a personal fave that curates links that made frontpage on HN on a weekly basis.” Free.
  • Founder Weekly: Features must-read articles, how-tos, tips, resources, and events for entrepreneurs. Free.
  • Justin Jackson’s Newsletter: Startup stories, lessons, and tips from @mijustin. @martinrlzd said, “I love to read Justin Jackson’s Newsletter. He’s always to the point, shares his personal experiences and - don’t know how to say this - just feels so human!” Free.
  • First Round Review: First Round sends out lots of interesting articles each week. I’m a subscriber and have found some value in it. Free.
  • The Tilt: A newsletter that educates content creators on how to build successful businesses. Tips, articles, spotlights — I signed up pretty recently and I’ve already seen some great content. Free.
  • The Hustle: Another one we all know. They’ve got nearly 1.5 million subscribers. They deliver business and tech news that can be consumed within 5 minutes. Free.
  • This Week In Startups: Interesting stories about entrepreneurship. @jna said, “This Week in Startups by @jasoncalacanis. I like how honest and blunt he is.” Free.
  • Rosieland: A newsletter about community building by one of the best — @rosiesherry. Freemium.
  • Trends: Vetted business ideas in your inbox. @filippkowalski said, “Trends.co - Interesting insights, high quality content.” Free.
  • Trends.vc: Another newsletter designed to help you discover new markets and ideas. @ramy said, “Trends.vc is also awesome. I love how so much information is distilled into such few words.” Free.
  • Software Ideas: By @Kevcon80, you’ll get validated SaaS ideas delivered to your inbox. Recommended by @jones_spencera. $57/quarter.
  • Exploding Topics: By @joshahowarth, Exploding Topics provides trending topics before they take off. Free.

Engineering newsletter

Here are a few that come highly recommended by coders:

  • Status Code: Covers the latest ideas, releases, trends, and articles about software development, web operations, infrastructure platforms, and performance. Free.
  • React Newsletter: The latest React news, tutorial, and resources. Recommended by @upat5_gustav. Free.
  • Pony Foo Weekly: Trending topics about frontend web development and related tech. Free
  • Full Stack Heroes: Articles, guides, interviews, and free courses on web development. Free.

Product management newsletters (along with some UX/UI design)

As far as product, here are the best newsletters I’ve found ranging from product management to design.

  • GrowthDesign: By @danbe and @louisxavierl, excellent and highly entertaining case studies on product design, UX, and growth. Plus, it’s in comic-book format. I’ve been following this newsletter for a while now and it’s well worth it. Free.
  • Lenny’s Newsletter: @lennysan is a big name in newsletters, and for those of you looking for info on product growth, it’s a really solid resource. I’ve been a subscriber for a few months and enjoy his work. Free.
  • Product Buff: Comes highly recommended by product managers. Includes content about product management and marketing, from idea validation to product/market fit. Free.
  • Mind the Product: @tscionti said, “Huge fan of ‘mind the product’ a newsletter for product managers, sends weekly on mondays and generally full of great content.” Free.
  • User Interface: Weekly UI and UX tips. Recommended by @petecodes, who says it’s “Great for polishing your design skills.” Free.
  • Ray Sensenbach’s newsletter: Tips about product design from a pro, designed to help you grow. Free.
  • Product Habits: Content for creating better products, efficiently. Free.
  • Sidebar: Five links per day about design. Free.

A few honorable mentions

And finally, here are a few that aren’t quite right for any of the categories above, but they made the cut anyway.

  • EDIT (3/9/22): I just started a newsletter so I’m adding it in here now :grinning: It’s called Rhythm of the Ancients and in it, I examine ancient cultures through the lens of shamanism — a lens that deeply affected their worldviews. I also share the latest news in archaeology and anthropology.
  • TLDR: I really enjoy this newsletter by @tldrdan. You get daily TLDRs of the latest news in tech, science, and coding. It’s always interesting and a super quick read. Free.
  • Tangle: By @isaacsaul, Tangle tackles political issues from all sides. My wife is subscribed and she’s a fan — I’ve learned a lot by extension. Freemium.
  • TheSlice: Lots of indie hackers have mentioned @TheWonderingZall’s newsletter. It’s all about ways to improve your thinking. Free.
  • Sunday Brain Food by FarnamStreet: Actionable ideas and insights for home and work. @Trunksome said, “The one I am looking forward to the most each week is Brain Food from Farnam Street. If you don’t know it, check it out!” Free.
  • Hurry Slowly: Actionable ideas on how to be more creative and resilient. Free.

My take

Here are my top 8 from the list:

And a few that I’m super excited to check out:

SOURCE and Credits to Newsletters for entrepreneurs: Best 50+ entrepreneur newsletters from marketing to coding