Why Substack offers creators money to transfer their audience to its platform

As major platforms tighten their grip on attention within their walled gardens, leaving individual creators out in the cold, Substack is taking the opposite approach. According to one of its co-founders, the platform isn’t just invested in keeping creators on its turf — it’s rooting for their success beyond it.

“We’re trying to build a new economic engine culture,” Substack co-founder and chief writing officer Hamish McKenzie told Digiday. “You can’t actually have that engine fully working if you can’t grow in the same place that you’re publishing. We’re building this entire system that provides a better way for people everywhere to grow and reduces the power of those other places that have such a vice grip on culture and the livelihoods of creators.”

That’s where its Creator Accelerator Fund comes in. It launched in January and was announced as “$20 million in guarantees” to help creators move their paid subscription audience to Substack.

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