Tagged: stratechery

Ben Thompson is the founder of Stratechery, the subscription newsletter that essentially invented the paid independent newsletter model. Writing from Taiwan for over a decade before returning to the US in 2025, he developed Aggregation Theory - the most influential framework for understanding how internet platforms accumulate power - while building a solo business earning $5M+ annually from 40,000+ paying subscribers. Substack's founders literally used him as their pitch-deck inspiration. He also co-hosts three podcasts, including Dithering with John Gruber, where every episode is exactly 15 minutes by design.