Chenell Basilio
Chenell Basilio writes Growth in Reverse, a newsletter that reverse-engineers how top creators grew their newsletters past 50,000 subscribers. She started it in December 2022 with a single deep dive sent to four subscribers (one of them herself), and by leaning on obsessive research depth and hands-on relationship-building she grew it to roughly 12,000 subscribers within six months and about 40,000 by mid-2025, plus an application-only paid community. She is the primary channel for her own audience (Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Substack Notes, and YouTube with co-host Dylan), and her mechanics are unusually well-documented because she teaches them in public.
- Spend 50 Hours on One Deep Dive Nobody Else Would — reverse-engineering one creator over 30-60 hours per issue, making research depth the differentiator no competitor matches
- Brand the Profile Before You Tell Anyone — priming the social profile around the project first, then earning clicks with authentic (non-pitch) comments
- Thank Everyone Who Sent You Two Subscribers — reading referral attribution and personally thanking every referrer to turn data into reciprocal relationships
- Tease Tomorrow’s Issue the Day Before — a day-before teaser post that converts 150-200 subscribers a week, judged by subscribers not likes