Investor Due Diligence Report
The Last Ward is where power is brokered, deals are cut, and Chicago’s future is decided. Published by the Chicago Policy Center.
119K
7.1K paid
+4.1%
Insufficient data
21 of 30 days needed
Pricing
$10/mo
$100/yr annual option
$56K
7.1K paid subs
$56K/mo – $56K/mo(±0%)
1.0
99.0
0.08%
(comments + likes) / subscribers
~2x per week
2.0 posts/week
Score based on available components only.
| Component | Score | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Newsletter | Subscribers | Weekly Growth | Price | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thinking about... | 439K | +0.2% | $7.5/mo | substack |
| Public Notice | 274K | +0.2% | $6/mo | substack |
| Lucid | 210K | N/A | $5/mo | substack |
| OpenTheBooks | 112K | N/A | Free | substack |
| Phillips’s Newsletter |
| Month | Subscribers | Est. Revenue | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 111K | $60,380.25 | — |
| Apr 2026 | 118.5K | $64,458.6 | +6.8% |
Platform Dependency
Uses substack platform
Key Person
Single-author publication — key-person dependency
Audience Concentration
Consistent engagement across posts
Revenue Model
Active paid subscription tier
Subscriber threshold
119K subscribers — above the 6K category median for first paid tier
Has paid tier
Active paid subscription offering
Peer monetization
100% of 70 similar-size peers in Politics have paid tiers
Pricing position
$10/mo vs $14.14/mo category average (1193 newsletters)
| Date | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | $10 | $100 |
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.
| Engagement Rate |
| 50/100 |
| 30% |
| Paid Subscriber Ratio | 100/100 | 25% |
| 112K |
| +0.5% |
| $8/mo |
| substack |