Investor Due Diligence Report
by Fred Wellman
This is the home of the 'On Democracy with FPWellman' community where we discuss the issues of today, lessons from the past, and Fred's campaign for Congress in Missouri's 2nd District.
50K
5K paid
~0%
Subscriber count is a platform estimate
+3.2%
net growth
Pricing
$7/mo
$72/yr annual option
$28K
5K paid subs
$28K/mo – $28K/mo(±0%)
8.4
88.8
0.19%
(comments + likes) / subscribers
Weekly
1.2 posts/week
68/100
Consistent (~6.0d avg)
| Newsletter | Subscribers | Weekly Growth | Price | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quick Update | 2M | N/A | Free | substack |
| Ryan Grim | 302K | N/A | $5/mo | substack |
| Open Letters, from Anne Applebaum | 188K | +0.3% | $8/mo | substack |
| The Last Ward | 162K | -0.3% | $10/mo | substack |
| Month | Subscribers | Est. Revenue | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2026 | 50K | $32,602.5 | — |
| Mar 2026 | 53K | $32,829.3 | ~0% |
| Apr 2026 | 52.5K | $32,523.12 | ~0% |
| May 2026 | 52K | $32,211.27 | ~0% |
| Jun 2026 | 52K | $32,211.27 | ~0% |
| Jul 2026 | 51K |
Platform Dependency
Hosted on substack subdomain
Publishing Consistency
Variable publishing frequency
Key Person
Single-author publication — key-person dependency
Audience Concentration
Some posts outperform significantly
Subscriber threshold
50K subscribers — above the 7K category median for first paid tier
Has paid tier
Active paid subscription offering
Peer monetization
85% of 61 similar-size peers in Politics have paid tiers
Pricing position
$7/mo vs $7/mo category median (669 newsletters)
| Date | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | $7 | $72 |
Disclaimer: This report is generated automatically based on publicly available data and proprietary estimation models. Estimated subscriber counts are derived from engagement patterns and should be verified through direct disclosure. Revenue estimates are based on known pricing and estimated paid subscriber counts. This report is for informational purposes only and should not be the sole basis for investment decisions.
Score based on available components only.
| Component | Score | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Engagement Rate | 43/100 | 30% |
| Paid Subscriber Ratio | 100/100 | 25% |
| Publishing Consistency | 41/100 | 10% |
| 99K |
| -0.5% |
| Free |
| substack |
| $31,593.24 |
| ~0% |
| Aug 2026 | 51K | $31,593.24 | ~0% |
| Sep 2026 | 51K | $31,593.24 | ~0% |
| Oct 2026 | 50K | $32,602.5 | +3.2% |
Revenue Model
Active paid subscription tier