Real pipelines and real numbers, starting with Austin Founders Feed, the newsletter we run ourselves, plus what the people we work with say.
We activated our onboarding pipeline for Austin Founders Feed, our own newsletter, in April 2026. Since then, every new subscriber sees curated recommendations, affiliate offers, and our own products on the way in. Here is what the pipeline earns as it ramps, from our books. Sponsorship revenue is separate and not included; this is the onboarding pipeline only.
from referral payouts, affiliate offers, and product sales, May 1 through July 20, 2026.
earned per new subscriber over the period, right in the $0.30 to $2 range we quote.
joined the list over the same period.
earned per new subscriber in June, above the $2 top of the range we quote.
Onboarding pipeline revenue divided by new subscribers that month.
July is month to date, through July 20. June cleared the top of the range we quote.
| Month | Referral payouts | Affiliate and products | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2026 | $653 | $68 | $721 |
| Jun 2026 | $1,098 | $429 | $1,527 |
| Jul MTD | $632 | $29 | $661 |
| Total | $2,383 | $526 | $2,909 |
From our books. July is month to date, through July 20. Referral payouts are partner newsletter recommendations shown at signup. Affiliate and products covers payouts from offers featured in the newsletter and onboarding flow, plus sales of our own digital products.
Only the revenue the onboarding pipeline generates on its own: referral payouts, affiliate payouts, and our own product sales. Nothing else is included.
The pipeline went live in April 2026 and started earning immediately. Two months later it cleared $1,500 a month, with no extra work per subscriber.
This is the same pipeline we set up for clients. At $1.63 per new subscriber, growing the list stops being a pure cost and starts paying its own way.
We keep the details of client engagements private. What we share here is what clients choose to say themselves.
"The newsletter sat on my someday list for years because I couldn't justify the time. Ken's team handled the whole setup, and the list started earning from the first subscribers."
"Our sales cycle is long, and prospects used to fall out of view between conversations. The newsletter keeps us in front of every one of them weekly, and the pipeline offsets part of its own cost."
We map your audience, your goals, and your current setup, and tell you plainly whether this will pay for itself.
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