Hello there 👋
Happy Monday
I took last week off. (for Memorial Day). Sometimes the best thing to do with a draft is not send it. Two weeks of inbox quiet, gave me time to catch up on creating more valuable content I wanted to for a while now.
Recently, I noticed most deal misunderstandings don't come from bad intentions. They come from buyers and sellers using entirely different words for the same thing. So this week, I wrote a small translation guide, that goes both ways.
Let's get into it!
Cheers,
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NEWSLETTER COMMUNICATION TIP
What sellers say vs. what they mean (and vice versa)
Most misunderstandings in newsletter deals don't happen because someone is hiding something. They happen because buyers and sellers describe the same thing with entirely different words.
After enough deals, you start to notice the patterns. So here's a small translation guide, going both ways, to help buyers ask better questions and sellers explain themselves more clearly.
What sellers say → what they often mean
"Engagement is strong." Usually means the open rate looks healthy, but no one has looked at the click rate in a while. Not a problem, just something to check. Better question: "What does the click rate look like over the last 90 days?"
"Diversified revenue." Sometimes it means sponsors, affiliates, and a paid tier all working together. Sometimes it means one big sponsor and a few small affiliates that add up to $200. Both can be true; they're just very different businesses. Better question: "What percentage of revenue comes from your top source?"
"Growth has stabilized." Often a polite way of saying it has plateaued. That's not a problem on its own; many great newsletters plateau. Better question: "What's the change in subscribers month by month over the last 6 months?"
"Light involvement required." Usually means light for them, because they've built it into their routine. For a new owner, it might be heavier in the first few months. Better question: "Can you walk me through a normal week of work on this?"
What buyers say → what they often mean
"Just doing some research." Usually means they're seriously interested but not ready to say it out loud. Sellers, this is the moment to be patient and answer clearly, not the moment to assume they aren't real.
"What's your best price?" Often the beginning of a real offer. Treat it like an opening of a conversation, not a test.
"I need to talk to my partner." Sometimes real, sometimes a soft no. Either way, give them space and a clear next step.
What I've learned from sitting in on a lot of these conversations is that buyers and sellers usually want the same thing. They just describe it differently. The buyers who close clean deals are the ones who ask precise questions. The sellers who close clean deals are the ones who answer with numbers, not adjectives.
Reply and tell me, what's the phrase you've heard most often in a deal that turned out to mean something else? I'll share the best ones in a future issue.
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Think Reformation, Lisa Says Gah, Dossier dropped at insider prices for a limited time. If you live in LA or SF, the in-store events are worth the trip. If you don't, the online drops come to you.
It's the coolest project that's both useful and a bit addictive.
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ACQUISITION NEWS
The quiet $300M move that puts Anthropic ahead
This week, Anthropic (the company behind Claude) acquired Stainless, a developer tools startup, for a reported $300M+.
If you haven't heard of Stainless, the companies that use it are pretty famous... OpenAI, Google, and Cloudflare all relied on it. By buying it, Anthropic now owns a piece of infrastructure their biggest competitors depend on.
Acquisition at this level is really a game of chess.
Congratulations to all parties involved!
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Until next week, keep building. 💪
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