# Hamish McKenzie

> Hamish McKenzie is the New Zealand-born co-founder and Chief Writing Officer of Substack, the subscription newsletter platform that has fundamentally reshaped how writers monetize their work. A former journalist and Tesla lead writer who wrote a book about Elon Musk's EV revolution, McKenzie pivoted from covering disruption to causing it - co-founding Substack in 2017 with Chris Best and Jairaj Sethi. Today the platform hosts over 50,000 earning creators and has raised $213 million total funding including a $100M Series C. McKenzie hosts The Active Voice podcast, delivered a TED2025 talk on the future of media, and is writing a book called 'How to Save the Media' due in 2026.

- **Role:** Co-founder and Chief Writing Officer at Substack
- **Organizations:** Substack, Tesla, PandoDaily, Kik Interactive, University of Otago (Critic Magazine)
- **From:** Alexandra, New Zealand
- **Nationality:** New Zealander
- **Education:** Bachelor's in English Language and Literature, University of Otago, Master's in Journalism, University of Western Ontario, Startup Program, Y Combinator
- **Known for:** Co-founded Substack in 2017, platform now hosts 50,000+ earning creators, Published 'Insane Mode' (2018), authoritative book on Tesla's electric vehicle revolution, Helped raise $213M+ total funding for Substack including $100M Series C

## Career timeline

- **early 2000s** — Worked at Critic, University of Otago's student magazine - progressing from volunteer writer to editor
- **2000s-2010s** — Freelance journalist writing for Reuters, The Guardian, TechCrunch and others
- **2012-2014** — Tech reporter at PandoDaily, covering Silicon Valley startup ecosystem
- **2014** — Advisory role at messaging app Kik Interactive
- **2014-2015** — Lead Writer at Tesla under Elon Musk, managing blog posts, marketing emails, earnings reports and press statements
- **2015-2018** — Researched and wrote 'Insane Mode: How Elon Musk's Tesla Sparked an Electric Revolution to End the Age of Oil'
- **2017** — Co-founded Substack with Chris Best (CEO) and Jairaj Sethi (CTO)
- **2018** — Published 'Insane Mode' (November 2018)
- **2019-2021** — Helped grow Substack through early adoption phase; raised funding from a16z and Y Combinator
- **2021** — Substack raised $65M Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz
- **2023** — Launched Substack Notes feature for short-form publishing (April 2023)
- **2025-04** — Delivered TED2025 talk 'This is what the future of media looks like' - over 1 million views
- **2025-10** — Substack reached 50,000 earning creators milestone; raised $100M Series C funding
- **2026-01** — Launched Substack TV - standalone Apple TV and Google TV app
- **2026** — Writing 'How to Save the Media' book, scheduled for publication in 2026

## Achievements

- Co-founded Substack in 2017, platform now hosts 50,000+ earning creators
- Published 'Insane Mode' (2018), authoritative book on Tesla's electric vehicle revolution
- Helped raise $213M+ total funding for Substack including $100M Series C
- Delivered TED2025 talk on future of media that surpassed 1 million views
- Pioneered subscription-first media model now used by thousands of independent writers
- Launched Substack TV in January 2026
- Hosted The Active Voice podcast featuring writers like George Saunders, Cheryl Strayed, and Chris Hedges
- Named Chief Writing Officer - a title designed to represent writers' voices inside a tech company

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — Launched Substack TV as a standalone app on Apple TV and Google TV
- **2025-10** — Substack reached 50,000 earning creators milestone and raised $100M Series C funding
- **2025-04** — Delivered TED2025 talk 'This is what the future of media looks like' which surpassed 1 million views
- **2025-02** — Published article 'Big things in media from 2025' analyzing five major media trends
- **2026** — Writing 'How to Save the Media' book scheduled for 2026 publication

## Links

- Website: http://hamishmckenzie.com/
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/hamishmckenzie
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/hamishmckenzie
- GitHub: https://github.com/hamishmack
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBOtQvqWpcg
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hamishkenz/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/substackinc/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/hamish-mckenzie
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-26