Interview Date: May 4, 2025
Table of Content
- Meet Valentina Jemuović
- Newsletter Identity Card
- Tools she uses to run her newsletter
- Why she started her newsletter
- How she grew over 5,000 subcribers
- Her paid subscription strategies to become a Substack bestseller
- Personal & professional impact of running a newsletter
MEET THE CREATOR
Valentina Jemuović spent years helping companies with software development through her own consulting business, then turned those insights into high-value LinkedIn posts.
What started as a way to organize those posts soon became Optivem Journal, a structured and efficient guide for senior engineers, tech leads, and engineering managers.
Today, with over 5,000 subscribers and 180+ paying members, Optivem Journal is a Substack Bestseller and a key pillar of Valentina’s B2B business.
She doesn’t just share technical knowledge in her newsletter; she attracts new clients, builds community, and reflects the heart of her coaching philosophy.
She made it all happen by truly understanding her audience. Through sharp reader analysis, she realized what her readers needed most: actionable, practical content, and she delivered it in a way few others have.
In this interview, Valentina shares:
- How she grew her newsletter from scratch using her LinkedIn content and community
- The strategy that helped her reach Bestseller status in just two months
- How Optivem Journal became a client magnet for her consulting business
- The biggest lessons she’s learned about building a paid publication
Enjoy!
NEWSLETTER IDENTITY CARD
TOOL STACK
- ESP: Substack
- Writing: Notion, Google Docs
- Task Management: Google Tasks, Google Sheets
- Curation & Note taking: Notion
- Visual Design: Miro, Figma
- Webinars: StreamYard
- Testimonials: Senja
- Social Media Tools: Buffer
- Payments: Stripe
START
You’re the founder of Optivem (see here), offering software development services. What inspired you to start Optivem Journal, and how do you position your newsletter within your business?
I worked as a Technical Coach, helping companies adopt TDD, Hexagonal Architecture, and Clean Architecture in Legacy Code. I was also publishing on LinkedIn a lot, but I wanted to have a more organized, searchable approach to my posts.
GROWTH
Which strategies did you use to grow over 5,000 subscribers?
0 – 100 Subscribers
I informed my LinkedIn connections & followers about my newsletter.
100 – 1,000 Subscribers
Started posting on a weekly basis. Also received subscribers based on recommendations from other newsletters.
1,000 – 4,000 Subscribers
Adopted a more structured approach to the newsletter as I began writing the TDD in Legacy Code series.
4,000+ Subscribers
Added Live Q&A sessions. Also posting on multiple social media platforms (LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram) and Substack Notes with link to my journal.
You have over 26,000 followers on LinkedIn. (see here) How does it contribute to your newsletter growth? What are your most effective strategies to convert your LinkedIn followers into newsletter subscribers?
LinkedIn is a major source of my Subscribers and clients who reach out to me for consulting and coaching.
I convert LinkedIn followers into Substack subscribers by publishing regular LinkedIn posts, with links to Optivem Journal both as a CTA in my profile and footer of my posts.
Regarding growth efforts, what would you do differently if you had a chance to start over?
I would start with Substack immediately. I had so many LinkedIn posts prior to Substack that I wrote in a very detailed way. I wish I had written them as Substack articles from the start—to have an organized knowledge base.
MONETIZATION
When did you launch your paid subscription, and how did you decide it was the right time for you to activate it? How long did it take for you to become a Bestseller?
I launched my newsletter in August 2022, and started using it to migrate some of my LinkedIn material to Substack. I also turned on paid subscriptions in August 2022.
However, I really started doubling down on Substack in September 2024 when I launched the TDD in Legacy Code series, leading to becoming a Bestseller in November 2024, so within 2 months.
What are your strategies to convert free subscribers into paid ones or gain new paid subscribers?
My conversion strategy was to adopt a focused and structured writing style. Through Substack, I published the “TDD in Legacy Code” series, whereby I shared the transformation journey based on my experience as a Technical Coach, helping teams adopt TDD.
What was the most effective growth action that helped you reach 100 paid subscribers?
Writing actionable structured content. Essentially, I was writing a course/roadmap in written form rather than video form.
How did you decide what to offer differently to paid subscribers to make it compelling for them to join as paid members?
The actionable content I write is based on my experience as a Technical Coach, it is practical material, that people can’t find anywhere else on the Internet.
What are your biggest lessons from running a successful paid subscription?
The biggest lessons I’ve learned is to have clarity about who the audience is and what transformation journey I’m offering.
The majority of my audience is Senior Software Engineers, Tech Leads, and Engineering Managers. I show them the steps how to introduce TDD within their Legacy Code base.
How does your newsletter contribute to your business in terms of acquiring new clients?
Many Engineering Managers & CTOs who contact me for consulting/coaching mention Optivem Journal, and a number of them started out as subscribers. Optivem Journal is complementary to my B2B service offering, since my coaching/consulting business revolves around helping companies introduce TDD in Legacy Code, so then Optivem Journal acts as a companion guide.
IMPACT & LEARNINGS
How did building Optivem Journal newsletter contribute to your life professionally and personally?
Professionally, it helped me structure my thoughts and experiences regarding my learnings over the years as a Technical Coach, it also helped me build a network of like-minded people. Personally, it helped me express myself better.
What would you do differently if you had a chance to start over Optivem Journal?
I would have started Optivem Journal immediately, writing it alongside LinkedIn. Also, I would have immediately adopted a structured step-by-step guide format.
What would it be if you had the right to give one piece of advice to aspiring newsletter creators?
Start now, don’t wait.
3 Popular Optivem Journal Issues
Where to find Valentina
- “Optivem Journal” Newsletter
- X
- YouTube
