Interview Date: June 04, 2023
Table of Content
CREATOR INTERVIEW
Being good at telling stories is difficult.
Differentiating from thousands of other competent storytellers is even more difficult.
Ok, you’re lucky because today you will meet a successful newsletter creator who finds a great way to create a distinctive storytelling approach through “data journalism”.
Daniel Parris is a data scientist and data journalist who shares “data-centric essays about pop culture, economics, sports, and more.” in his weekly newsletter Stat Significant.
Every week, he finds a big thorny question such as “How has music changed since the 1950s?” or “How do the holidays impact engineering productivity?”.
Then he creates hypotheses and searches for answers by using data analytics.
Pretty impressive, right?
Here are some key highlights from today’s interview:
- How he managed to combine his academic interests with his professional skills to create Stat Significant.
- What data journalism exactly is and how he sees its future
- How he deals with constant ups and downs as a newsletter creator
- His plans to grow further
- The role of his newsletter in his consulting career
Let’s listen to the story of Stat Significant from its founder Daniel Parris!
NEWSLETTER IDENTITY CARD
TOOL STACK
- ESP → Substack
- Writing → Grammarly
- Planning → Notion
- Design → Canva
- Growth → Swapstack
- Graphics → Flourish
MEET THE CREATOR
Welcome Daniel. Let’s start with getting to know you.
I’m a data scientist and data journalist, and I run a weekly newsletter called Stat Significant. Before starting Stat Significant, I had a bizarre path to tech and data science. I was a film major in college and spent time interning at the Conan show and for Steve Carrell’s production company. While the internships were fine, I decided the film industry was not for me, so I moved to San Francisco and got a job in tech.
After taking an initial role in sales, I became interested in data science, so I started attending night school to learn SQL, Python, and machine learning. After a year at a small travel startup, I joined DoorDash when it was still an early-stage startup (between 150 and 200 people).
I spent six years at DoorDash, working in data science and operations, and still consulting for the company part-time.
Since ending my full-time role at DoorDash, I have dedicated my energy toward analytics consulting and data journalism.
“Since ending my full-time role at DoorDash, I have dedicated my energy toward analytics consulting and data journalism.
I started Stat Significant in November 2022 as a creative outlet and mechanism for advertising my data consulting services.”
START
What is Stat Significant all about?
I usually describe Stat Significant as “data-centric essays about pop culture, economics, sports, and more.”
Each week I tackle a different question in a data-driven manner. Some previous questions include:
- How has music changed since the 1950s?: A survey of popular music history and changes in song composition over time.
- What’s the True Cost of NFL Injuries?: An accounting of football’s grave injury tool and the economic loss associated with player absences.
- Are Best Picture winners getting worse?: A historical overview of commercial and critical success for Best Picture winners.
I aim to provide interesting data points and trivia with each piece, then examine the findings and subject matter through a broader sociological lens.
Why and how did you decide to start Stat Significant in the first place?
I knew I wanted to start a newsletter, and I naturally gravitated toward data science to differentiate my publication. My undergrad education focused on film, television, and media studies, so I ultimately combined my academic interests with my professional skills to create Stat Significant.
How did you gain your first 100 subscribers?
I announced the launch of my newsletter on Linkedin, which netted me a decent number of subscribers, and then my second article went semi-viral on Reddit. I crossed the 100-subscriber mark a lot faster than initially anticipated.
Your newsletter is a great example of “data journalism”. Can you elaborate on this concept, why it is important and how you anticipate it to evolve in the future?
I did not intend to create a “data journalism” newsletter. I sat down to write something—anything—and after a few iterations found my attention drifting toward long-form data essays.
I enjoy pop culture commentary and data analytics, so Stat Significant was a natural combination of both passions. Someone later told me that Stat Significant could be considered “data journalism,” which I thought sounded pretty cool.
Stat Significant – “How-has-music-changed-since-the-1950s?”
For those who don’t know, data journalism is a form of writing where data analysis and visualizations are utilized to tell stories. Some popular data journalism publications include Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight, Freakonomics, and The New York Times’ Upshot section. Most prominent news outlets have a handful of data journalists crafting interactive visualizations to enhance the online experience for their readers.
“As far as why data journalism is critical to digital media — it provides another element of differentiation for media outlets (both big and small). There is no shortage of online publications, so content creators must focus on unique value creation for readers.
Most publications will report on high-profile national news—the president, sports, and culture wars—and this content is often indistinguishable across platforms.
On the other hand, an in-depth analysis coupled with high-quality visualizations represents a distinctive storytelling approach that stands out in the mind of readers.”
GROWTH
Which growth channels do you mainly use? What are the most effective ones?
My growth is quite lumpy. Some articles go viral and fetch dozens of subscribers, while others go unnoticed, garnering a handful of sign-ups.
I share my articles on subreddits related to the content of a given work as well as r/dataisbeautiful. A more prominent publication will pick up one out of every three pieces, and I experience a disproportionate amount of growth when these syndications occur.
Apart from that, I use Swapstack to advertise in other newsletters.
“My customer acquisition is split 50/50 between organic and paid acquisition.”
As a data scientist, which metrics do you gather and track for your newsletter?
As much as I’d love to perform advanced analysis on my publication, Substack provides limited access to performance data outside of summary statistics, so there is little to work with.
I’m also in growth mode, so I mostly pay attention to top-line metrics like views, open rate, un-subscribes, and sign-ups. It’s not the most exciting answer, but it’s mostly a function of where my newsletter is today.
What are your plans to continue growing?
“I’m looking to move toward more sustainable forms of growth. More feasible acquisition strategies exist than waiting for an article to go viral.“
Over the next few months, I want to unlock cross-promotions and recommendations as a viable channels. To date, I’ve put minimal effort into networking with other writers, which is something I’d like to change.
MONETIZATION
Do you make money with your newsletter? If yes, how?
I do not directly monetize Stat Significant. I only launched the newsletter last November, so I’m not ready to insert ads or charge for subscriptions. That said, I’ve received decent inbound interest regarding co-syndication and consulting.
For co-syndication, I’m currently working with two platforms that take my articles and adapt them for their platform. Here is an example of a co-syndication with TV/movie content site Fandom on whether Best Picture Winners are worsening.
For consulting, I’ve had several companies inquire about data analytics services. Ultimately, this is the best path for Stat Significant’s commercial viability.
“The newsletter can serve as top-of-funnel lead capture for my consulting career rather than a revenue generator in and of itself.
I’m working on launching a stand-alone Stat Significant Consulting service which I’ll link in my posts.”
E-MAIL SERVICE PROVIDER
Why did you choose Substack? Pros and cons?
I choose Substack because I’m a big fan of the platform’s reader experience.
For pros, the platform offers a turnkey solution for launching a publication quickly. I also enjoy that my reading and writing are consolidated into a single source.
For cons, I’ve found Substack’s platform minimally helpful for growth. Overall, I’ve received less than 2% of my subscriber base from Substack—my best guess is that most site traffic is directed toward the platform’s whale publications.
“I also wish Substack had a native advertising solution for ad-buying and selling. I understand this approach is antithetical to their company ethos, but it’d be nice to have the option.”
SYSTEM & PRODUCTIVITY
What is your typical weekly process from creating to relasing a new issue?
My writing process begins by collecting data sources.
I could come up with a scintillating article topic, but if I don’t have data to answer the question, then the endeavor is pointless.
“To date, I’ve curated a repository of over 130 open-source datasets. When brainstorming ideas, I usually start by reviewing this catalog for inspiration.”
Once I settle on a question, I typically need a day of data analysis to produce a few meaningful visualizations.
Then, once I’ve sufficiently collected enough insights to tell a captivating story, I usually require two to three days to create a 10 to 12-minute essay summarizing my findings and pontificating on the broader subject matter.
I aim to publish every Wednesday, and I’ve mostly succeeded in sticking to this cadence.
NEWSLETTER EXPERIENCE
How did writing Stat Significant contribute to your life professionally & personally?
“I enjoy the enhanced sense of curiosity that comes with writing. Many of my best articles are inspired by my day-to-day experiences.”
I’ll be enjoying a TV show and think, “When do long-running TV shows typically jump the shark?” Or I’ll be chatting with friends about how Nickelback stinks and wonder, “Why does everyone hate Nickelback so much?“
I relish the challenge of asking big, thorny questions and then attempting to answer these questions in a data-driven manner. I’ve always loved exploratory data analysis, so I’m effectively utilizing the newsletter to feed this passion (though I end up giving myself a gigantic homework assignment in the process).
What is the most challenging part of writing a newsletter and how do you handle it?
Growth is most challenging, mainly when an article flops relative to my expectations. At some point, I’ll likely solidify a sustainable approach to growing Stat Significant, but my current trajectory includes some high-highs and low-lows.
“Over time I’ve gotten used to the ups and downs. When a post performs well, I try not to envision myself as the world’s next Freakonomics, and when a post performs poorly, I remind myself how fortunate I am to be writing for a non-trivial subscriber base.
It’s not the most flashy advice, but I consistently remind myself that Stat Significant has gone further than I ever anticipated and that I should remain grateful for this success.”
FUTURE
What is next on your newsletter journey?
The next few months of Stat Significant will focus on fostering a long-term approach to growth and optimizing the newsletter toward generating consulting work (without degrading quality).
I’ve also been thinking about expanding the format, but I still need to decide which approach to take.
RECOMMENDATIONS
What would it be if you had the right to give one piece of advice to aspiring newsletter creators?
“Write something authentic to your interests.
It sounds hokey, but writing about topics you enjoy fosters a more satisfying development process and allows you to craft a clear and engaging voice.“
A few times, I’ve chased clicks by picking subject matter I’m not passionate about, and those pieces were painful to produce and performed poorly.
What are your favorite newsletters that you can’t wait for the next issue?
I love
My approach to Stat Significant has been greatly informed by these publications.
Where to find Daniel Parris and his work
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