In real estate, all that matters is location, location, location. In the real estate of the brain, that equivalent would be information, information, information. Which would be fine if we had all the time in the world. Unfortunately, the last I checked, we still only have 24 hours a day. So in a world with unlimited information and very limited time, we need to choose what we consume very carefully. Trawling the internet can be a huge time waster. I personally prefer a trusted and curated service, delivered to my inbox on a regular basis, as a way of consumption. So, here’s my curated list of the best newsletters to subscribe to, in 2021.
Since we don’t want to bombard our own inbox with all sorts of emails, I’ve decided to be very, very particular about the newsletters to subscribe, and I hope you find value in this, as I did. But before we jump right into it, let’s get something out of the way.
Are newsletters still relevant in 2021?
Yes! In fact, I would argue that newsletters and email marketing is enjoying a renaissance in the face of increasing concerns around privacy and tracking. Newsletters are curated and delivered right to your inbox, with your permission.
It is also a very cost efficient method of reaching out to your audience. In a world of rising media costs and cost of acquisition, newsletter products are now becoming a priority for media companies and smaller outfits. Which means the content you’re getting will get better and better.
Tl;dr ⤵️
5 Best Newsletters to Subscribe in 2021
- Best Tech & Business Newsletter – The Hustle
- Best General Newsletter – Morning Brew
- Best Investment Newsletter – Capitalist Exploits Insider / Insider Weekly
- Best Crypto Newsletter – Coinsnacks
- Best Deep Introspection Newsletter – Wait But Why
Best Tech and Business Newsletter – The Hustle
I’ve been subscribed to The Hustle for a few years now, and have been super impressed with their output. Turns out, I was not the only one impressed. They have also managed to impress HubSpot so much that they got acquired by HubSpot for an undisclosed amount of money.
But I digress.
The Hustle is a daily tech / startup email, curated with an entrepreneurial mindset. It is free to subscribe, and every day, you get an email sent to you, that includes:
- 3 – 4 stories of the day
- Snippets of 2 sentence stories in which you can personalise in terms of categories
Here’s what a snippet looks like.
I’ve been seeing a trend with new media companies in experimenting with the holy triumvirate of newsletter, podcast and paid subscription. These are all different content types and formats, designed to help each format become stronger as a team. As these individual formats themselves grow, they form a magnet to pull others along with it.
These ultimately grow into a mega content flywheel that sucks in new users into their ecosystem.
The Hustle’s podcast is called My First Million, while their paid subscription is called Trends.co. I did a full review of Trends.co, which I highly recommend if you’re looking for a paid subscription service that offers in-depth looks and deep-dives into various industries and the opportunities that lie in them. Check out Trends.co.
I enjoy listening to their podcasts as well, where Shaan Puri and Sam Parr get together to brainstorm certain business ideas, or to pick apart how particular industries or businesses make their money.
Best General Newsletter – Morning Brew
As the name suggests, Morning Brew delivers a round up of the news you need to know, every morning, preferably as you sip on your cup of Joe.
Morning brew has done tremendously well for themselves, that in October of 2020 (right smack in the middle of the pandemic), got acquired by Business Insider!
Seeing the pattern here? There’s big money to be made in collecting those email addresses!
Since the acquisition, they have expanded their newsletter offering, and aside from Morning Brew, has gone into very specific verticals, and launched Emerging Tech Brew, Marketing Brew and Retail Brew and Money Scoop (a twice-weekly personal finance newsletter that makes you smarter about your money).
They have a very easy-to-read format, and if you like your emails neatly segregated into different categories the way they have done it, then you’ll love consuming your different verticals all from one source.
And in the spirit of amping things up, they have not one, but two podcasts!
The first is Business Casual, where they interview folks like Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIN to talk about hyper-scaling businesses, as well as Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy to talk about, what else but Bitcoin!
The second, Founder’s Journal, is hosted by Alex Lieberman, Founder of Morning Brew, taking us into his brains to help you build your business better. He dives into topics like How to make decisions, to Follow or not follow your passions, and How to be a selfless conversationalist.
Best Investment Newsletter – Capitalist Exploits Insider
How would you like to have access to hedge fund managers, how they think, how they position themselves for asymmetric investments, and their exact portfolio revealed?
If you like the sound of that, you should explore Capitalist Exploits products. They are:
- Capitalist Exploits Insider Weekly
- A weekly newsletter priced at $35 per month. Trial for 30 Days at $1.
- Every issue comes with an analysis of current trends, how these trends will impact the price movement of various stocks and commodities.
- Each issue concludes with 5 stocks that has stirred the interest of the Insider team.
- Capitalist Exploits Insider
- Insider is a full member subscription area.
- $1,999 annually. Get it now for $1,499 ($500 off) with my unique link below.
- Led by experienced fund manager Chris MacIntosh, they are looking for asymmetric returns of 300% and beyond
- Ongoing trade alerts and investment ideas
- Education into long term wealth building strategies
- Community forum
If you just want a sneak peek into watercooler banter these guys get into, they have also opened up their telegram chatgroup so you have a view into the things they discuss.
They call this chatgroup… Hedgies Uncut.
I will do a proper review of their product shortly in a deep-dive post. Watch for that.
Best Crypto Newsletter – Coinsnacks
If you’re not in a particular industry, or if a particular topic is of interest, but not at the point where you need to have new inputs on a daily basis, then committing to a daily newsletter could be a tad too much.
Crypto is still a fairly new (but tidal wave forming) asset class and many people are still trying to wrap their heads around the many cryptocurrencies, use-cases, and even how the underlying tech itself works.
To help you mitigate this new environment, Coinsnacks produces a weekly newsletter to make you smarter about crypto.
Best Deep Introspection Newsletter – Wait But Why
This is a huge favourite of mine. Wait but why is authored by Tim Urban, and his newsletters (actually articles on the blog) are erratic in schedule. That is, it will be sent to you, when it’s published.
But each time you read one of his articles, it leaves you with a huge impact, and really shapes the way you think about many things.
Spend too much time on the site, and you’ll probably drown in a sea of philosophical debate.
For example, have you thought about your day as 100 blocks of 10 minutes? Yes, that seems very little when you think about it this way, but this is exactly what it is. Every day (excluding sleep time), you wake up with approximately 100 blocks of 10 minutes. These blocks get used up like clockwork until you need to sleep again. What will you choose to do with your 100 blocks every day?
Another favourite of mine: Why you should stop caring what other people think.
Tim’s articles are peppered with his signature stick figures. They are so iconic that he even sells them on t-shirts.
Nice.
So here it is. My list of 5 best newsletters to subscribe in 2021. How many of those will you sign up for?
By the way, if you’ve read all the way to the end, do support by joining the Telegram channel as well, so you don’t miss out on future posts, and exclusive content on the channel. Thank you!
