Product Manager, Substack
$160-215k
Platform for writers & podcasters
Job no longer available
Platform for writers & podcasters
1001+ employees
Job no longer available
$160-215k
1001+ employees
Company mission
To give thinkers, writers, and creatives the opportunity to pursue their curiosity and make money at the same time.
Role
Who you are
- A deep understanding of Substack’s product, use base, and market position
- An ability to roll up your sleeves and do what needs to be done with limited resources and support
- Comfortable operating at every level of abstraction (from high level product/business strategy to “what should the CTA say” level details)
- Strong analytical skills, competence in SQL (at least enough to guide an LLM to do your bidding!), and experience with BI tools like Periscope — growth frameworks like cohort analysis and growth accounting should be second nature
- Strong communication skills — must be able to write a compelling strategy doc, internal or external blog post, and present to the company regularly
- Ability to collaborate well with company leadership and other teams
- We value aptitude, drive, and execution ability more than having many years of direct product management experience (but having real product experience at a similarly high-growth company is definitely useful). Here are some attributes of successful PMs at Substack:
What the job involves
- The PM team at Substack is small, scrappy, and covers a lot of ground
- You’d be joining as only the third PM, responsible for a large product surface area and on the hook for ambitious goals
- PMs at Substack don’t have a wide array of other specialists to lean on
- We get into the details with designers and engineers, talk directly with users, and handle much of the go-to-market motion themselves
- We often write our own copy, run our own analyses, and conduct our own research. If this sounds more exciting than daunting, that’s a good sign
- Form a deep understanding of the current state of play in your domain and identify the biggest opportunities for development and growth
- Build a compelling roadmap at the short term, medium term, and long term horizons
- Help design and spec projects across the spectrum from experiment, to feature, to large-scale initiative
- Work closely with the leadership team to ensure that your team’s product strategy and the overall company strategy are in lock-step at all times
- Fully own the product marketing and go-to-market strategy for everything your team ships
- Partner with your EM counterpart to inspire and lead a full-stack team of engineers, designers, and product analysts — creating clarity and accountability for them at every level
Our take
Substack is an online platform for journalists and writers to manage subscription-based newsletters. Substack has attracted a range of writers and publishers who wish to connect with their audiences while being removed from social media and other ad-based models.
For an industry that has seen a steady decline in its fortunes since the rise of digital, Substack offers journalism an alternative to the advertising-driven clickbait-focused model that has dominated the last decade. Substack has amassed more than 35 million subscribers.
The subscription newsletter space is a competitive market, but Substack claims to provide greater freedom to writers than its competitors. Writers produce their newsletters on the site for free, charging an optional subscription fee (minimum of $5/month) of which Substack takes 10%. The company continues to seek out ways to diversify its offerings, whilst securing funding rounds to expand its reach.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
62% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 6 rounds)
Nov 2024
$10m
ANGEL
Apr 2023
$7.8m
LATE VC
Total funding: $100.3m
Company benefits
- Remote work support - All employees receive a generous allowance to customize their home offices
- Comprehensive health care - Substack covers 100% of premiums for employees and their dependents, and fully funds HRA plans
- Parental leave - We want employees to be fully present for the new members of their family, so we offer generous parental leave
- Flexible vacation and paid time off - You’re the best person to decide when you need a day—or a week—off to travel or decompress. Our flexible vacation policy puts you in control
- Company holidays and Winter shutdown - In addition to flexible time off, we honor 12 paid holidays annually on average. And we close the office between Christmas Eve and New Year's day to recharge each year
- Phone & internet stipends - Many of our employees work from home or on the go. So we offer full time employees a monthly stipend to cover for phone and internet costs
Company HQ
The East Cut, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Chris Best
(CEO & Co-Founder)After several software internships, they co-founded Kik Interactive in 2009, serving as CTO until 2017. At this stage, they founded Substack, and have served as CEO ever since.
Hamish McKenzie
(Chief Writing Officer & Co-Founder)Previously a journalist for several publications include The Independent and Time Out. Lead Writer for Tesla and Editorial Advisor to Kik Interactive.
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