From Zero to 8,300 subscribers in 7 Days: The Unicorn Launch of Justin Welsh on Substack
What 1,283 words and a unique launch strategy can teach us about momentum, Notes, and growth on Substack
Most creators agonize over every word, every image, every angle. They plan for months. Then—maybe—they publish.
Not Justin Welsh.
He dropped 11 Notes and one post. Total? 1,283 words. Barely a blog post.
Seven days later, he had 8,300 free subscribers and 400 paying ones and had cracked Substack’s Bestseller Tier 100.
Wait—who does that?
Justin Welsh does.
He’s not exactly a newbie. Welsh is the king of one-person businesses, with 738K followers on LinkedIn and $ 5 M+ in solo creator revenue. His digital playbooks, like The Content Operating System, are gospel for solopreneurs like me—I own a copy and refer to it almost weekly.
It’s clear, actionable, and doesn’t waste your time, just like his new Substack.
Who is this guy?
If you hang out on LinkedIn or X, you probably know the name. Justin Welsh is a solopreneur powerhouse. After quitting a career in tech and SaaS, he built a one-person business empire focused on content, digital products, and systems.
He’s amassed 738,000+ followers on LinkedIn, turned his playbooks into goldmines, and built a business that generates over $5 million in revenue with no employees, meetings, or fluff.
He created bestselling resources like:
The LinkedIn Operating System
The Content Operating System
The Solopreneur’s Handbook
I bought The Content Operating System last year and still pin it in my reference folder. It’s been instrumental in shaping my own content strategy—structured, evergreen, and useful.
So when I saw Justin join Substack on May 4th, I was curious. But I didn’t expect him to rewrite the launch playbook overnight.
How he did it: the notes-first strategy
Justin didn’t do what most new writers do.
He didn’t spend weeks crafting the perfect 2,000-word essay. He didn’t hype his list endlessly on Twitter. He didn’t play it safe.
Instead, he went all in on Substack Notes.
Here’s what stood out:
High Frequency: 11 Notes in 7 days. Sometimes more than one a day.
Brevity with Bite: The average Note was just 46 words. But each was punchy, thought-provoking, and designed to stop the scroll.
Consistency > Perfection: He showed up daily. No over-polishing.
Subtle CTA: Almost every Note gently nudged readers toward the newsletter. No hard sell. Just curiosity and clarity.
Example: One of his early Notes simply thanked the community for the warm reception. It racked up big engagement, proof that people connect with honesty and presence, not polish.
What’s inside the Mind of a Million-Dollar Creator?
Are you curious about what’s inside his content?
I used my Substack Dashboard tool to generate a word cloud from his notes.
The themes? Autonomy, freedom, and building a business that serves your life, not the other way around. In his own words:
I built my audience by sharing tactical business advice. But over the past year, my writing has shifted toward the intersection of life and business. I find myself asking questions like: How do we build businesses that serve our lives instead of consuming them? What does success actually look like when we step off the default path? — Justin Welsh
He’s not selling hustle. He is selling intention.
A data deep dive: what the numbers show?
Here’s what Justin published in his first 7 days:
1 post
11 Notes
Total: 1,283 words
I am writing this on Saturday, and he shared that Dan Koe joined his inner circle paid subscriber tier while I was writing this article. The momentum is real-time.
His Notes didn’t just perform well—they performed consistently across the week. He understood that daily presence builds trust.
Behind the curtain: his profile, subscriptions, and plans
Justin’s Substack profile is clean and complete, with social links, subscription plans, and a thoughtful About section.
He’s also subscribed to 32 newsletters, including a mix of well-known names and lesser-known voices.
I recognized a few, and now I’m planning to explore the rest. It's a good reminder that great creators are also great readers.
His pricing model is simple. Focused on aligned creators and recurring value.
And in just a week? $72,000 in annualized revenue.
Let that sink in.
What other writers can learn
You don’t need Justin’s audience to learn from his launch.
You need to pay attention to the principles:
Notes aren’t side content—they’re the front door
Consistency wins
Short beats long, if it’s valuable
Daily presence > sporadic perfection
What is your take on this unicorn launch?
My takeaway
As someone who studies Substack growth data and writes about creator strategies, this launch was different. It wasn’t flashy, and it wasn’t over-engineered.
It was smart. Focused. Executed with intention.
Justin didn’t just launch a newsletter.
He demonstrated how the platform wants to be used in 2025: with visibility, velocity, and value at the center.
If you’re waiting for the perfect essay to launch your Substack... maybe just hit "publish" on a Note tomorrow. Then do it again the next day.
You might be 11 Notes away from something big.
It sounds really wow until you realise this guy has a million followers across other platforms. So he can basically send a message through a fax machine and still get subscribers. Of course, he didn't do anything wrong, but also nothing outstanding: he just waited, as many other personal brand superstars, until the platform is mature and over with early adopters and in full swing (so well known enough so his tribe will move there as well.) Good for him, but nothing to learn from if you're starting and struggling to get the message and get some traction.
Nothing wrong with your article, it's just a framing that doesn't fit.
The power of having an external audience :)