A Haymaker Year Reviewed
Plus, the Haymaker Year Ahead
“The present: a point so intangible that, even as we name it, it unnames itself.” -Charles Searle
“I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” -Douglas Adams
One Year In!
Tomorrow, April 15th, marks one full year since our inaugural Haymaker edition (Crude Calculations) went live. Some readers may recall that our earliest Substack work appeared in the winter months of 2022, as we brought you Bubble 3.0 a chapter at a time on that publication’s dedicated newsletter page.
Haymaker, on the other hand, is our rebranded version of the Bubble 3.0 project: delivering financial, market, and economic knowledge to our growing audience — and one year in, that audience certainly has grown. It has nearly doubled, in fact. For those of you who have been with us from the beginning, or even since the Bubble 3.0 publication days, thanks for your patience as we’ve been finding our footing in the ring. To all newcomers, welcome to the Haymaker community. We’re in fighting form and have big plans for Year Two.
Milestones
We know the ancient adage about time being money, a saying that encourages looking ahead to the next market moves. That said, we won’t dwell too long on reviewing our big milestones of the last year. One of the more significant of those was the Haymaker having been honored to host remarkable guests such as Vivek Ramaswamy (now a POTUS contender), Jim Rickards, and Danielle DiMartino Booth (twice — but that was due to a technical glitch), among others, all of which stands as a big development for our young platform.
We were equally honored for the many invitations we received from finance journalists like Adam Taggart of Wealthion, Tom Bodrovics of Palisades Gold Radio, Jay Martin of his eponymous program, and the other half of what we jokingly refer to as “David Squared”, David Lin, who was kind enough to extend an invitation to the Haymaker within days of his new (also eponymous) program having launched. We will note here that the first “David Squared” conversation took place on Kitco News and has garnered nearly 270,000 views. Needless to say, we were amazed by the appearance’s popularity and hope we can yield similar results for Lin’s current project (and for Haymaker, of course). Find links to both “David Squared” interviews at the end of this edition.
Media
So, now to the looking ahead part. We are planning to make such media engagements an increasingly substantial portion of the Haymaker project. Substack is the irreplaceable foundation for our work and the most important megaphone in our media arsenal. But getting the word out and reaching others who might prefer audio/video content to the newsletter format requires that we make ourselves visible in the larger media ecosystem. As we’re now working with a PR firm that specializes in securing industry-specific interviews, you can expect to see the Haymaker showing up throughout the finance-journalism space this year and beyond.
To learn more about Evergreen Gavekal, where the Haymaker himself serves as Co-CIO, click below.
SEC Compliance
When word came down that our Making Hay Monday content would need to be re-tooled for reasons of SEC compliance, we expected to see a little drop-off on the subscriber front. What we were instead met with was, on balance, a slight uptick in subscriber growth and a flurry of comments actually encouraging us to charge for our services. That leads us to the next piece, but before we get there, thank you for the support and for continuing to welcome us to your inbox as we continue exploring new ways to keep you informed and in a good position to shift with (or against) the markets.
Paywall
On the subject of a newsletter fee, we have been internally debating on when to activate the paywall and at what monthly cost. The “when?” is still unknown, but it could come about by this summer. And as to the cost, we want to ensure the amount is a) reflective of and commensurate with the work we do, and b) comfortably within the budgets of our average readers. At the moment, we’re considering something in the $40/month range or, if you’re happy to pay upfront, $400/year, but let us know in the comments section how you feel about it. We will also publish the occasional unpaid piece and plan on keeping the first ~1/3 of every edition visible to all, regardless of subscription status.
Our longer-term plan is to lower the cost as our subscriber base grows. For example, cutting our rates by 5-10% for every 25% growth in subscribers seems reasonable. We are not aware of any other newsletter writers who do this and that appeals to our contrarian instincts! It also gives all of you a reason to recommend Haymaker to your family and friends.
Suggestions
While you’re weighing in on that, please also provide us with input as to what topics you would like us to cover, whose programs you would like us to appear on, and what changes you might like to see in our content on the whole. Haymaker is still an infant and we plan on watching it grow with the input and candor of our readership working as a co-parent. One enhancement we’re kicking around is a video Q&A where Dave would respond to questions you all pose.
Please Share Haymaker
As we’ve stated here, growth is a priority for us this year. We are looking to reach a large audience with market information and unflinching economic insights. Our overarching goal is to guide ordinary Americans in successfully dealing with both wild markets and ill-advised government policies. Hit the “Share” button below and help us reach even more readers this year.
Someone in your network could probably use what Haymaker is publishing.
Promise
Regardless of how long it takes to reach our subscriber goals, or when we switch on the paywall, or how many media appearances this year brings, we promise to continue publishing at our current cadence and equally promise to say what’s important to say, regardless of where conventional opinion is at any given moment. For us, that’s an easy promise to keep.
Thank you again for joining us in our battle against the destructive financial forces of fear, greed, and ignorance. Because that terrible trio is nearly certain to be in constant over supply, we anticipate it will be a busy next 12 months for Team Haymaker.
-The Haymaker Team
“David Squared” Interviews:
Many new publications have begin going behind paywalls recently. The numbers are growing and competition for customers may become fierce. As for me, $40 monthly is beyond what I would be willing to pay for any of the recently paywalled publications.
I would consider$400/year only in the context of your pre SEC compliance format, which provided more specific actionable content.