I think comparisons to YouTube are apt, but they’re missing one key differentiating factor. YouTube had a 10-year head start as the dominant player in user-generated video. It wasn’t until the mid-2010s that platforms like Facebook Watch, Twitter video, IGTV, and TikTok entered the picture.

Chris Best, Hamish McKenzie, and Jairaj Sethi started Substack in 2017, but their history dates back years before. Chris co-founded the anonymous posting app Kik during his third year at the University of Waterloo (2010). He spent the better part of eight years at the company where he met his soon-to-be co-founders. When Chris left Kik in early 201

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