Substack Notes
Substack Notes is the short-form feed and discovery product discussed by Chris Best in Founder Mode: Chris Best, Founder & CEO, Substack. Best presents it as part of Substack’s move from a paid newsletter tool toward an owned media network where readers can find independent voices inside the product.
The source makes Notes a Strategic Must-Work Product Bet. Best says Notes did not work well for roughly two years and was used by only a small group of highly engaged users, but Substack kept working on it because discovery was essential to the company’s long-term thesis. In his view, a professional manager might have killed the feed because the short-term evidence looked weak.
Notes also created the public conflict with Elon Musk and Twitter / X in Best’s account. Best says he warned Musk before launch, Musk told him not to launch it, Substack launched anyway, and Twitter later restricted Substack-related visibility and links.
Connections
- Substack and Chris Best - product and founder context.
- Founder Mode and Strategic Must-Work Product Bet - leadership and product-persistence frame.
- Platform Dependency Risk and Creator-Owned Audience - discovery and creator-economy reasons for the product.
- Twitter / X and Elon Musk - external platform conflict in the source.