From Zero to Substack Bestseller
My Seven-Month Journey to 100 Paying Subscribers
Two days ago, I hit “bestseller” status on Substack. Translation: more than one hundred people are now subsidizing my caffeine addiction so I can keep writing essays that don’t suck.
Massive thanks to my recent subscribers: Jaap Lommerse, Illuminatus!, Tobias Glaser, Greg Yates, Jerzy Stawicki, Ken, Jord Rolland de Rengervé, Miguel, Bjoern, Andrii Pavliukov, Bastian Rauch, Gleidson Thuller, Udo Wiegärtner, Peter, Phil Morris, JJ Ruiz, and everyone else who recently signed up. You’re the reason this works.
I went all-in on Substack on March 23 with a simple bet: could I convince 100 people to financially support my particular brand of workplace heresy? Seven months later, mission accomplished. The MVP is validated. People dig what I’m doing. My posts are finding their audience. And if I can get a hundred supporters, logic suggests I should be able to get a thousand.
That’s going to mean a lot of coffee.
People keep asking about my grand plans for unFIX, M3K, Management 3.0, Harmony, and the constellation of projects I’ve spawned or gotten tangled up in. The uncomfortable truth is the future is so uncertain right now that I’ve abandoned strategic planning altogether. I’m taking things as they come, staying opportunistic. I still accept speaking gigs and workshop invitations, but I’m constantly scanning for signals that reveal what value the market actually needs—and what I might actually want to provide. I’ve got some loose ideas for 2026, but honestly? All bets are off. All options remain open.
One thing I know with absolute certainty: I need to get dramatically better at human relationship management. My goal is simple—for anyone I interact with going forward, I should immediately know:
Whether they attended one of my workshops
Whether they downloaded one of my books
Whether they subscribe to my newsletter
Whether they funded one of my businesses
Whether we’re connected on LinkedIn
Whether they reviewed one of my books
Whether I met them in an online meeting
Whether I met them at a conference
And whether they gave me permission to store that information
(And I want a one-click feature that allows anyone to trigger a delete of their data and make me completely forget them. The haters will be so happy.)
Basic GDPR-compliant contact hygiene. Because I’ve been absolutely terrible at this. When you’re racing between events and workshops, taking notes on people becomes an afterthought. Gmail became my CRM, which is like using a butter knife as a screwdriver—it technically works, but it’s embarrassing.
But now, thanks to the rather depressing implosion of the agile industrial complex, I actually have time. Eventually, I might show you the automated processes and agentic workflows I’m building so that when I meet someone, I’ll actually know I’m talking to an unFIX Company investor who downloaded my book last month and invited me to their company event last year. It should eliminate those awkward moments where I’m standing there with a blank expression thinking, “Where the hell do we know each other from?”
My theory: an automated, GDPR-compliant relationship system with clean, current data about my network will always be relevant. It will accelerate whatever product or service I dream up next, regardless of what direction I take in 2026 and beyond. So that’s my end-of-2025 goal: fix the data infrastructure first, then layer on new value.
Meanwhile, I’m doubling down on growing this newsletter. If you’ve read this far, you’ve earned a little surprise. Next week, on October 28, I’m selecting ten people to receive a free, personally signed copy of the exclusive FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER edition of my book Human Robot Agent. I will choose the winners from my paid supporters, naturally.
If you enjoyed recent pieces like “Scrum Is Done. Finished. History,” “Why I Trust AIs More Than Most Humans,” or “You are arrogant, condescending, and disrespectful,” please help keep me caffeinated. The monthly supporter fee happens to exactly match the price of a medium café latte at my local coffee bar. What a delightful coincidence! Upgrade now, and you’ll have a solid shot at winning a signed copy of my book.
As always, thanks for your support.
We’ll figure out the future of work together.
Jurgen
Scrum Is Done. Finished. History.
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Can I visit you innNerherlands and invite you what you say you suck at? Building on networking?!
“The monthly supporter fee happens to exactly match the price of a medium café latte at my local coffee bar. What a delightful coincidence! Upgrade now, and you’ll have a solid shot at winning a signed copy of my book.”
A year ago, I started, meet me LinkedIn connection on their own turf. Where they feel confident. I’d be happy to do so for you and maybe .. , maybe I could show you why I feel so comfortable at dealing with human AND robotic agents. Reach out to me on WhatsApp 0032489 99 53 93 or email jord@humanfarer.com !
I really like how you framed 100 subscribers as an MVP milestone instead of a vanity metric. Turning creator growth into a product experiment is the mindset more of us should be adopting.
That line about Gmail as a CRM hit a little too close to home. Congrats, Jurgen. You’ve built more than a following; you’ve built proof of concept.