334 days into launching the Hatchet
A look at strategy, subscribers & challenges.
Welcome to a new investor update of the Hatchet. We share career advice for new managers working at fast-growing companies, directly to your email inbox.
Interested in receiving these stories too? Sign up here.
Investor Update #4
Dear investors,
It's been a while — almost 3 months — and an update is due.
Maybe it was naivety on my part, but I completely underestimated the challenge a second baby would add to my time management this year :-)
Our little family is doing exceptionally well, although mom and dad have had to transition into a military baby operation in order to keep the household happy, fed and entertained all while managing a serious lack of sleep.
Luckily, easier times are on the horizon and I finally have time to sit down, create content again and share with you my updated plans for the Hatchet.
The startup pivot
I wouldn't be running a real startup if I didn't at least once decide to pivot in a substantial way — which is what I've decided I must do.
As of today, I'm pivoting away from a revenue model.
I want to share with you how I came to this decision and what the implications are for you as a subscriber, as well as for the direction that I'll be taking the Hatchet in.
Why are you pivoting away from revenue?
When I started the Hatchet I set a goal for myself to reach Dutch minimum wage (€19.836) within a year — the amount I would need to pay my bills and prove this endeavor was a viable source of income that I could pursue into the future.
I've now managed to hit €11.871 in revenue within 11 months. Although it's only 60% of my goal, I am proud of the accomplishment now that I fully understand how much work needs to go into building an audience from nothing.
However, since I no longer need this income to pay myself a salary, the paid subscriber model has started to feel like an unnecessary paywall that will limit the exposure and growth of the Hatchet's overall reach. With only a sub-segment of my content being made available to free subscribers, it's challenging to grow the audience because of what content I can or can't share on social media.
With almost 60% of annual subscriptions being renewed between December and February I felt like now was the moment to make the call.
What this means for your paid subscription
This week I manually deactivated your credit card subscription in my Stripe account, meaning you will no longer be charged for a monthly or annual renewal.
I have also changed each and everyone of you from a paid subscriber to an honorary subscriber, because that's the personal recognition each of you deserve for supporting me to follow my dream and launch this project in December of 2020.
Going forward:
you will receive new articles again starting next week — share them as far and wide as you'd like because they are all free to read from now on
you will still receive the occasional investor update about strategy and growth, where I will continue to pay tribute to you as honorary subscribers
you saved some extra money for 2022 — go and buy yourself a gift!
But most importantly, you can enter the holiday season knowing that you hold a lifetime of my karma credits for investing in me and my project. Thank you!!
Yours truly,
Wytze
