Twitter Goes to War With Substack

Lon Harris
Lon Harris is a contributor to dot.LA. His work has also appeared on ScreenJunkies, RottenTomatoes and Inside Streaming.
Twitter Goes to War With Substack
Evan Xie

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Substack announced a new feature this week called “Notes,” which will allow users to publish brief posts containing a few sentences, quotes, simple reactions, images, and links. These Notes are going to get their own dedicated tab, separate from longer-form Substack content, and the basic format feels purposefully borrowed from Twitter. Individual notes can be liked, replied to, and reshared – just like tweets – and there will even be separated tabs for authors to which you’re specifically subscribed vs. content from your “extended Substack network,” similar to Twitter’s “Following” vs. “For You” structure.


In their blog post outlining the new feature, Substack co-founders Chris Best, Hamish McKenzie, and Jairaj Sethi were quick to differentiate Notes from Twitter, drawing attention specifically to their revenue model. While Twitter is free (unless you’ve just GOT TO have that blue check) and writers receive no direct financial compensation for their contributions, Substack remains subscription-based. Rather than aiming for virality for its own sake, Team Substack argues that subscriptions provide a genuine incentive for posting quality content, as Notes will help Substack authors convert “casual readers into paying subscribers.”

High-minded rhetoric aside, Substack could clearly use a hot new feature. According to newly-disclosed SEC statements, the company burned through around $25 million in cash during a major 2021 expansion, up from just $1 million in expenses the year before. For the entire year 2021, the company earned gross revenue of just $11.9 million, mostly from its share of blog subscriptions. (2022 data is currently unavailable.)

Despite the obvious aesthetic similarities between Notes and Twitter, and Substack’s very overt attempts to lure away Twitter users, they seem likely to remain different kinds of platforms. In large part because so much of the power of Twitter is in its wide-open accessibility to all. Though a small percentage of overall users drive most of Twitter’s activity and engagement, they’re not always the same people who could attract massive paid followings on a platform like Substack. It remains to be seen whether a subscription-based platform can drive conversations and generate the kinds of breakout viral moments that have made Twitter feel essential.

Nonetheless, Twitter seems to view Notes as a threat. Within 24 hours of the feature’s announcement, the social network and microblogging service began scaling back interactivity with Substack. At first, Substack writers were just unable to embed tweets in their posts, but now, Twitter has blocked all likes, retweets and comments on any links pointing back to a Substack newsletter. As well, Twitter users can’t link to a Substack blog via their profile, making it essentially impossible to use your Twitter account to promote a paid Substack blog. (At least for now, you can apparently still get around these changes with a URL shortener. But you didn’t hear that from us…)

Asked about the controversy by The Verge, Substack’s trio of founders used Twitter’s moves as further ammunition, pointing out that it’s dangerous for writers to rely on a platform on which “they don’t own their relationship with their audience” and “where the rules can change on a whim.”

Beyond just bolstering a key argument in favor of its competitor, Twitter’s decision to go to war with Substack pretty clearly makes its own platform worse. By removing the incentive of promoting work for which they actually get paid, it seems likely that this move will discourage some active users – who, again, drive the bulk of Twitter’s traffic and engagement – from tweeting as much. Tellingly, the Substack purge even removed some links to Matt Taibbi’s “Twitter Files” reporting, produced in coordination with Twitter and its owner, Elon Musk.

As well, Twitter’s prominence is largely based around being at the center of so much online conversation and discourse. By removing the ability of Substack writers to refer back to tweets, Twitter is purposefully taking itself out of a lot of these discussions. If you make it significantly harder for writers to talk about tweets… they might actually stop talking about tweets. Which would be far worse for Twitter, overall, than just the presence of a new competitor, which may not actually be a direct competitor anyway.

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🌱Redefining Female Pleasure—and LA's New Wellness Club: What to Know

🔦 Spotlight

Happy Friday Los Angeles!

Love.Life is a high-end, holistic health and wellness club recently opened in Los Angeles, founded by former Whole Foods Market executives John Mackey, Walter Robb, and Betsy Foster. The 45,000-square-foot facility combines advanced medical diagnostics, personalized fitness and nutrition plans, and rejuvenating therapies under one roof. Membership options range from $300 to $50,000 annually, offering services such as detailed health assessments, specialized treatments, and access to various wellness modalities including cryotherapy, red light therapy, and advanced fitness equipment. With autoimmune diseases on the rise, the club aims to provide a comprehensive health experience that blends Eastern and Western practices, with additional perks like an on-site café and pickleball courts. Love.Life's approach emphasizes preventive care and personalized health management, catering to individuals who are willing/able to invest significantly in their well-being.

In parallel to this trend towards high-end, integrated wellness solutions, Hello Cake, an LA-based sexual health startup, is making strides in addressing women's sexual dysfunction—a field where treatment options have been notably scarce. While erectile dysfunction has seen significant innovation for men, women’s sexual health remains inadequately addressed, despite the Cleveland Clinic's estimate that 43% of women experience sexual dysfunction compared to 31% of men (hello underserved market). Hello Cake is introducing two new prescription products: Libido Lift Rx, a dissolvable tablet featuring oxytocin, tadalafil, and L-citrulline, and O-Cream, a topical treatment containing sildenafil. Priced at $54 for six doses, these products aim to help women love life by tackling low libido, filling a significant gap in the market where female libido is often overlooked. Despite the lack of FDA approval for these specific uses and limited trials, Hello Cake seeks to provide a novel approach to a common, yet medically nebulous issue, highlighting a crucial area of unmet medical need. Given its vibrant health and wellness culture, LA provides an ideal backdrop for innovative health companies like Love.Life and Hello Cake to address emerging needs in a city that's both health-conscious and open to new wellness trends.


🤝 Venture Deals

LA Companies

  • Sahara AI, a startup that operates a decentralized network that allows users to control, scale, and monetize their personal knowledge and copyrights using AI and blockchain technology, raised a $43M Funding Round co-led by Pantera Capital, Binance Labs, and Polychain Capital. - learn more
  • Ambercycle, a maker of recycled polyester, raised a $10M Funding Round from Shinkong Synthetic Fibers. - learn more
  • JetZero, a developer of blended-wing aircraft, raised funding from Alaska Airlines. - learn more

LA Venture Funds

    LA Exits

    • Datum Source, a developer of software that helps hardware companies find manufacturers, was acquired by Hadrian, a defense tech company. - learn more

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    🎓 LA’s Startup Edge

    Los Angeles is a key center for tech and entrepreneurship, driven by its major universities. Caltech produced a “founding father” of artificial intelligence and USC's Viterbi School collaborates with industry and has produced companies like Riot Games.


    Image Source: UCLA

    University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

    UCLA is a major source of tech talent in LA, granting approximately 2,000 engineering degrees from Bachelor’s of Science to Ph.D.s annually. The university fosters innovation through:

    • Startup UCLA: An on-campus accelerator program that provides mentorship, funding, and resources to student entrepreneurs.
    • Anderson School of Management: Offers entrepreneurship programs and hosts startup competitions.
    Companies Founded by UCLA Alumni: ChowNow by Eric Jaffe; Blizzard Entertainment by Mike Morhaime; BAM Ventures, LegalZoom.com & The Honest Company by Brain Lee


    Image Source: USC

    University of Southern California (USC)

    USC is another key player in developing LA's tech workforce offering numerous programs and resources for aspiring entrepreneurs, including the Viterbi Startup Garage, USC Stevens Center for Innovation, and the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, which provides over 68 entrepreneurship courses taught by 27 professors and practitioners.The university fosters innovation through:

    Companies Founded by USC Alumni: Riot Games by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill; Salesforce by Marc Benioff


    Image Source: CalTech

    California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

    Caltech is a significant contributor to the tech talent pool in Los Angeles, producing around 600 graduates annually across various STEM fields, with a large portion likely in engineering disciplines. Additionally, Caltech alumni have founded 238 startup companies between 1995 and 2016, with 35% still active as of 2016, demonstrating the institution's strong support for entrepreneurship and innovation in the region. The university fosters innovation through:

    • Caltech Entrepreneurs Club: This student-run organization aims to develop Caltech's startup ecosystem through educational speaker series, networking events, and collaboration with administration to establish a founder-friendly environment.
    • Caltech Innovation Center: Provides startups with space to test, develop, grow, and commercialize deep technology ideas collaboratively.

    Companies Founded by Caltech Alumni: Intel by Gordon Moore, Quora by Adam D’Angelo, and John McCarthy one of the “founding fathers” of Artificial Intelligence


    Image Source: Pepperdine University

    Pepperdine University

    Pepperdine University contributes to Los Angeles' tech talent pool through its strong entrepreneurship programs and MBA offerings that emphasize innovation and startup development. 33% of its MBA students are actively working on startups during their studies and 85% are aspiring to start businesses

    Companies Founded by Pepperdine Alumni: Eventbrite by Julia Hartz

    These universities are crucial in developing LA's tech talent pool, offering programs that bridge the gap between academia and industry. Their initiatives in entrepreneurship and partnerships with local startups are helping to create a robust tech ecosystem in Los Angeles.

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    🎤 What Do Snoop Dogg And Anduril Have In Common?
    Image Source: WWD

    🔦 Spotlight

    Happy Friday Los Angeles!

    Snoop Dogg’s role at the 2024 Paris Olympics highlights a groundbreaking synergy between celebrity influence and high-impact innovation, much like Anduril’s disruptive advancements in defense technology (hear us out). In order to convey the impact of Snoop Dogg’s presence in the 2024 Paris Olympics, we thought it would be appropriate to do it littered with VC and tech jargon. Snoop Dogg’s presence at the 2024 Paris Olympics exemplifies a disruptive innovation with expansive market appeal. As NBC’s special correspondent, he’s leveraged his unique personal brand to create a high-impact engagement strategy that delivers exceptional viewer retention and engagement metrics. By integrating his “gangsta rap” roots with family-friendly content, Snoop has achieved a synergistic blend of authenticity and relatability, driving record-breaking ratings and optimizing cross-platform visibility. His involvement—from elite equestrian gear to athlete interactions—demonstrates a scalable model for enhancing brand partnerships and maximizing audience touchpoints. Snoop's strategic pivot not only redefines celebrity influence but also sets a new benchmark for leveraging cultural icons in a way that drives growth and amplifies impact across diverse demographics. As Snoop puts it, “My mind on my money and my money on my mind”—a statement that deeply resonates with the MVP of the 2024 Paris Olympics and the venture capital community.

    Speaking of high-impact innovation and money, Palmer Luckey’s defense tech startup, Anduril, has raised $1.5 billion and unveiled its new AI-powered manufacturing platform, Arsenal, aimed at producing tens of thousands of autonomous weapons annually. This funding, led by Founders Fund and Sands Capital, underscores a shift in military strategy towards high-tech, low-cost systems and rapid production capabilities. Inspired by tech giants like Apple and Tesla, Anduril's Arsenal platform and expansion efforts, including a new factory, are designed to address critical US military shortages and support the Pentagon’s focus on scalable, autonomous defense solutions amidst evolving global threats. Both Snoop Dogg and Anduril, based in the OC/LA area, embody how innovation and influence can reshape industries, proving that groundbreaking advancements and cultural impact are thriving on the West Coast.


    🤝 Venture Deals

    LA Companies

    • Agrovision, a company that grows and sells premium fruits like blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and table grapes, raised a $100M funding round at a $1b valuation from Aliment Capital, and others. - learn more
    • LeafAgriculture, a farm data management startup, raised an $11.3M Series A led by Spero Ventures, with Cultivian, Radicle Growth, and SP Ventures also participating. - learn more
    • Curio, a web3 game development company, raised a $5.7M Seed Round. Bain Capital Crypto and SevenX Ventures co-led, and were joined by OKX Ventures. - learn more
    • ProRata.ai, a startup that collaborates with media and music companies to ensure proper attribution and revenue sharing for content used by AI platforms, raised a $25M Series A. Investors included Mayfield, Revolution Ventures, Prime Movers Lab, and Idealab Studio. - learn more
    • Anduril, the Costa Mesa-based defense tech startup, has closed a $1.5B Series F that values the company at a whopping $14 billion co-led by Founders Fund and Sands Capital. - learn more
    • Filmustage, a startup that has built an AI-powered platform designed to enhance the film pre-production phase, raised a $1.5M Seed Round led by Raw Ventures. - learn more

    LA Venture Funds

    • 1AM Gaming led a $5M Seed Round for DSTLRY, a startup that offers a marketplace for buying, reading, and reselling digital comics. - learn more
    • Casa Verde led a $2M Seed Round for Growlink, a Denver company whose tech, including IoT controllers, sensors, and cultivation software, is specifically designed to optimize cannabis growing operations. - learn more


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