I love working with data and building tools to analyze and visualize key metrics.
I'm trying to incorporate my learnings into this new tool I'm building to make it easier for other writers to find their audience and grow their newsletters.
great post. any tips on how to currently get data from your notes? Seems in Substack there's no actual report on them and a very manual process to look at each note and see the stats. tnx
Patrick, if you're in a hurry, I have a tool called Substack Control Center that you can use to get metrics on your Notes, Posts, and Subscribers, offering analytics features that show which Posts brought you the most subscribers.
You can find the link to the Gumroad store on my profile.
One thing that’s rarely talked about — and I wish more creators would say it out loud — is just how emotionally confusing publishing Notes can be. You write something that feels honest and sharp, but when it underperforms, you don’t just question the idea… you question yourself. Metrics become mirrors.
What helped me shift was realizing: performance ≠ value. A Note that “flops” might just be a strong idea in the wrong format or moment. The clarity doesn’t come from chasing something new — it comes from noticing what almost worked.
But here’s the tactical side: more Notes means more data. And more data means better pattern recognition — not just about what converts, but why. Clarity isn’t a flash of inspiration. It’s accumulated signal.
That’s why I’ve been focusing on publishing momentum over perfection. One little tool that’s helped me keep that rhythm without burning out is notestacker.cc. Simple interface, friction-free scheduling. Nothing fancy — just one less excuse to hesitate. (Disclaimer: I created it.)
Anyway, loved this post — not just for the tactics, but for how well it understands the internal game behind consistent output.
It's pretty cool to figure out what actually works, using the data we already have. Just visualizing the data differently makes it so much more actionable.
I've been iterating this new tool for over 30 days now and I'm at the point that the whole process takes less than 60 seconds.
I'm starting to get excited about datas.
I love working with data and building tools to analyze and visualize key metrics.
I'm trying to incorporate my learnings into this new tool I'm building to make it easier for other writers to find their audience and grow their newsletters.
great post. any tips on how to currently get data from your notes? Seems in Substack there's no actual report on them and a very manual process to look at each note and see the stats. tnx
I'm building a tool just for this, stay tuned.
that's great. but you claim to have analysed thousands of notes...
Patrick, if you're in a hurry, I have a tool called Substack Control Center that you can use to get metrics on your Notes, Posts, and Subscribers, offering analytics features that show which Posts brought you the most subscribers.
You can find the link to the Gumroad store on my profile.
https://finntropy.gumroad.com/l/substack_control_center
My dataset contains millions of Posts and Notes, from over 103K authors.
Here are some links that might be of interest:
1) https://finntropy.substack.com/p/what-13844-newsletters-reveal-about
2) https://finntropy.substack.com/p/how-often-should-you-write-to-grow
I've written multiple articles on my research of both Posts and Notes, here is one example
https://open.substack.com/pub/finntropy/p/how-often-should-you-publish-notes?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2023k5
This is incredibly helpful, Substack is full of gems and great learning experiences like this one, thank you for sharing.
This hits home.
One thing that’s rarely talked about — and I wish more creators would say it out loud — is just how emotionally confusing publishing Notes can be. You write something that feels honest and sharp, but when it underperforms, you don’t just question the idea… you question yourself. Metrics become mirrors.
What helped me shift was realizing: performance ≠ value. A Note that “flops” might just be a strong idea in the wrong format or moment. The clarity doesn’t come from chasing something new — it comes from noticing what almost worked.
But here’s the tactical side: more Notes means more data. And more data means better pattern recognition — not just about what converts, but why. Clarity isn’t a flash of inspiration. It’s accumulated signal.
That’s why I’ve been focusing on publishing momentum over perfection. One little tool that’s helped me keep that rhythm without burning out is notestacker.cc. Simple interface, friction-free scheduling. Nothing fancy — just one less excuse to hesitate. (Disclaimer: I created it.)
Anyway, loved this post — not just for the tactics, but for how well it understands the internal game behind consistent output.
Brilliant perspective! This reminds me of Clayton Christensen's disruption theory in practice. This approach saved us months of iteration.
Thanks Jiri! I've read Christensen's books when I was playing a product management role in past. Crossing the chasm was a brilliant book.
Terrific breakdown, Finn. Saving so I can follow your experiment with my notes.
Where can I find this awesome tool of yours @Finn Tropy ?
Hi Shweta,
It is still under development, and I currently have a few beta testers using it.
They continue to find bugs and suggest improvements, which takes some time.
I will announce it when it is ready.
Really nice read Finn! Appreciate your openness to share the data behind the scenes.
Thanks Jenny,
It's pretty cool to figure out what actually works, using the data we already have. Just visualizing the data differently makes it so much more actionable.
I've been iterating this new tool for over 30 days now and I'm at the point that the whole process takes less than 60 seconds.
Just let me live 😅