South Dakota News Watch

Investor Due Diligence Report

ghostBusiness

An independent nonprofit that reports free, fact-based news and information important to all South Dakotans.

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Key Metrics

Subscribers

Low confidence

Weekly Growth

~0%

Subscriber count is a platform estimate

Revenue Analysis

Pricing

$100000/mo

Est. Monthly Revenue

$6K

~120 est. paid subs

$3K/mo – $9K/mo(±50%)

Quality & Publishing

Audience Quality Score

54Fair

0100

Publishing Pace

Daily

6.4 posts/week

Publishing Consistency

89/100

Very Consistent (~1.4d avg)

Competitive Landscape (Business)

Newsletter	Subscribers	Weekly Growth	Price	Platform
future/proof	348K	+0.3%	$9/mo	substack
SemiAnalysis	321K	+0.5%	$50/mo	substack
Founding Journey	251K	N/A	$50/mo	substack
Pagebound's Substack: Page Against the Machine	174K	+0.6%	Free	substack

Revenue Trajectory

Estimated monthly revenue over time

Month	Subscribers	Est. Revenue	Change
Feb 2026	4.5K	$6,750	—
Mar 2026	3K	$4,500	-33.3%
Apr 2026	3K	$4,500	~0%
May 2026	3K	$4,500	~0%
Jun 2026	3K	$4,500	~0%
Jul 2026	3K

Risk Assessment

Key risk factors for due diligence

Medium

Platform Dependency

Uses ghost platform

Low

Publishing Consistency

Regular publishing schedule

Medium

Key Person

Single-author publication — key-person dependency

Low

Revenue Model

Active paid subscription tier

Monetization Readiness

Monetization status

Subscriber threshold

4K subscribers — above the 2K category median for first paid tier

Has paid tier

Active paid subscription offering

Peer monetization

73% of 391 similar-size peers in Business have paid tiers

Pricing position

$100,000/mo vs $5/mo category median (922 newsletters)

Pricing History

Date	Monthly	Annual
Mar 2026	$100,000	N/A

Data Quality

Report Data QualityPartial - Some metrics estimated or missing

Subscriber Confidencelow

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.