DeepSummary
In this episode, David Perell interviews Packy McCormick, the writer behind the popular newsletter 'Not Boring' and the founder of a $40 million venture fund. They discuss Packy's unique writing style, which combines business insights with humor and memes, and how it has helped him build a large audience of over 220,000 subscribers.
Packy shares his writing process, which involves going through multiple drafts and rewriting pieces until the last minute before publishing. He emphasizes the importance of capturing the excitement and fascination he feels about a topic, rather than trying to sound overly intellectual or sophisticated.
The conversation also explores Packy's approach to using AI tools like ChatGPT and Anthropic for research, editing, and generating ideas. Additionally, they discuss the synergy between Packy's writing and investing, and how writing has helped him find his authentic voice and align with who he truly is.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Packy McCormick's unique writing style, combining business insights with humor and memes, has helped him build a large audience for his 'Not Boring' newsletter.
- Packy's writing process involves going through multiple drafts and rewriting until the last minute, aiming to capture the excitement and fascination he feels about a topic.
- Packy uses AI tools like ChatGPT and Anthropic for research, editing, and generating ideas, but also acknowledges their limitations.
- Writing has helped Packy find his authentic voice and align with who he truly is, embracing his optimistic outlook and diverse interests.
- Packy's approach combines writing and investing, ensuring he has a stake in the ideas and companies he writes about, and providing access to behind-the-scenes information.
- Packy's audience's reception and feedback have influenced his writing process, adding a layer of self-doubt that he didn't have when he started.
- Writing long-form pieces has challenged Packy to surrender to his authentic voice and interests, rather than trying to conform to audience-building conventions.
- Packy emphasizes the importance of providing a unique and insightful perspective on the topics he writes about, making his pieces stand out and valuable to readers.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “The goal is like, I want this to be the best piece that's ever been written about this company. I want people to be able to understand what they do in a way that they didn't before.“ by Packy McCormick
- “If I can figure out how to frame the thing, all the other sections kind of fall into place from, like, I'll need to describe this if I'm talking about this, and here's a definition of a thing that I'm talking about.“ by Packy McCormick
- “Just tell your story with uncommon honesty.“ by David Perell
- “Now I'm like, do I write about cost physics or is it dumb? And I think it's a cool way of describing a thing that people might or might not think about. And so I'll probably still do it. But now there's this little like, oh, is this idea dumb in the back of my head that just wouldn't be there if nobody read my essays or cared about it.“ by Packy McCormick
Entities
Person
Product
Company
Book
Episode Information
How I Write
David Perell
2/28/24
Packy McCormick is proof that writing online can attract real-world opportunities you never dreamed of. He went from 20 Substack subscribers to a $40 million venture fund — and he’s still growing. In this episode, we dive into the three main “how’s” of Packy’s growth.
First, he has a distinct, unforgettable style. His business-meets-memes newsletter, Not Boring, has amassed 220,000+ subscribers because his “funny finance guy” flair gives him an edge. Not to mention, it all started when he took the first-ever cohort of Write of Passage. (I may be biased, but seriously, that’s when it started.)
Next, Packy shares his domain expertise. He sees writing and investing as the perfect one-two punch. His goal? Share what he knows, and make a behind-the-scenes world accessible to the average audience.
And finally, Packy adds value to his readers. Relentlessly. Not by telling them what to think, but by trying to change the way they think. In a world filled with Beta content — cheap entertainment that disappears in 24 hours — Packy creates Alpha content — quality work that has long-term relevance.
Style. Expertise. Value. This is just a sneak-peek into our conversation. If you want to find your distinctiveness in a modern digital world, this episode is for you.
SPEAKER LINKS:
Website: https://www.packym.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/packyM
Newsletter: https://www.notboring.co/
WRITE OF PASSAGE:
Want to learn more about the next class Write of Passage?
PODCAST LINKS:
Website: https://writeofpassage.school/how-i-write/
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel/videos
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices