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The Sponsor Deck Tweet That Sold Out Months of Ads

The Story

On August 20, 2020, Packy McCormick wrote a newsletter telling his audience he needed to start making money. He was living in his in-laws’ basement with a baby on the way and his wife getting restless about the income situation. He asked readers to fill out a demographics survey so he could pitch sponsors (Source 1).

The survey included questions like “How important is it to you to manage your own investment portfolio?” and “What company would you like to see sponsor Not Boring?” and “How much would you be willing to pay for Not Boring?” (Source 1).

Once he had enough responses, he put together a sponsor deck. Then, taking inspiration from Mario Gabriele, he posted the sponsor deck publicly on Twitter (Source 1).

By posting the deck publicly, he sold out the next few months of advertising slots in just a few days (Source 1).

“While most people go around trying to cover up the real reason they are asking those questions, he just comes out and says it” (Source 1). Packy later admitted he started sharing everything publicly because he thought it would be useful for people to look back on if the newsletter succeeded. “I doubt I’m ever going to get there, but just in case, let me just time stamp all of this stuff because if it works then I could show people that I’m a random idiot sitting in a basement somewhere writing a newsletter and you could also be a random idiot doing this thing” (Source 1).

Lesson for Creators

Radical transparency about money can be a growth lever, not a vulnerability. By telling his audience exactly why he needed sponsors and showing them the actual deck, Packy turned a potentially awkward transition into a trust-building moment. The audience felt like insiders in his journey. And sponsors saw a creator who was honest and whose audience was genuinely engaged. Most creators hide the business side. Packy made it part of the content.

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