The CEO of Substack rival Beehiiv says the growing platform has a key philosophical difference from its more established rival.
He said Beehiiv is going down a “very divergent” path compared to Substackdespite early comparisons between the two competitors.
Beehiiv has positioned itself as a platform that provides the tech and infrastructure to help both large publishers and individual creators monetise their content.
Podcasts are expected to launch within the next month and a community feature, which will essentially enable newsfeeds dedicated to specific publications so their users can engage with each other, will follow later this year.
Many other types of creators also use the platform, such as Arnold’s Pump Club (from Arnold Schwarzenegger) and internet personalities/entrepreneurs Chris Koerner and Codie Sanchez.
Denk told Press Gazette that creators on Beehiiv are approaching $5m in collective annual earnings from paid subscriptions and advertising (excluding any direct-sold deals they organise themselves).
Publishers can also source their own direct ad deals and keep 100%.
US-based Beehiiv has been on a charm offensive in the UK, with Denk and other key figures at the company spending a week in London in February to meet potential creators and publishers for the platform as well as existing users.
Denk said the biggest cohort of people they were meeting were “large newsrooms and publishers that are just using another piece of tech, and we’re trying to introduce ours as the better solution that we think can help them grow and make more money”.
“If you can save money, you can add an ad network, and your employees are happier because it’s a better platform to use, and you are close with the leadership team who’s listening to your needs, and we’re constantly pushing out new features – I think that’s a direct 180 from what most of these antiquated platforms are offering, which are pretty bulky, haven’t been updated in years, very expensive and don’t move very quickly,” Denk said.
Source: Press Gazette
