How Packy McCormick became one of the internet's favorite writers

Hey friends,

If you’re even remotely related to the startup world or if you spend any time on Twitter, you likely know who Packy McCormick is.

Today, he needs no introduction. Packy is man behind Not Boring, one of the most popular newsletters in tech. His words reach more than 100,000 people every week, multiple times a week. He also invests in world-changing startups through Not Boring Capital and advises storied venture capital firm a16z.

But just as recently as 2020, few people knew who he was.

Today, we’ll tell you the story of how he managed to build a strong online presence in record time.

By the beginning of 2020 Packy had quit his full-time job at Breather to pursue a startup idea: the Not Boring club, an in-person social club for entrepreneurs and innovators. However, soon enough an unexpected challenge reared its head: a global pandemic.

This clearly put an end to his plans. Not sure how to move forward, he turned to the thing he enjoyed the most - writing.

He had been writing a small newsletter called ‘Per my last email’, and decided to lean into it more. As a part of the process, he renamed it to Not Boring and started exploring intellectual rabbit holes.

He wrote about Jeff Bezos’ fashion choices and how the Micky Mouse Club fostered creative disruption. His unique blend of pop culture, fun language and knowledge of the tech industry seemed to resonate. One month in, Not Boring grew by 53%. This was followed by 100 people signing up in only five days.

The Not Boring newsletter was finding product-market fit.

So, Packy decided to go big and launch on Product Hunt. Within a day, Not Boring had added 1,800 new subscribers. Another 2,000 joined after he created a referral program. Then, something magical happened.

People loved the essays so much that they started sharing them with their friends and posted about them on Twitter. Seemingly out of the blue, Packy was going viral.

This put him on the radar of people like Web Smith and Lenny Rachitsky…who liked the newsletter so much they shared it. The flywheel was on.

Over the next year, Not Boring grew by 8,803% (!!).

Opportunities started coming Packy’s way. With an audience that included some of the most prominent names in tech, he started meeting some of the most talented startup founders and investors in the world.

This gave rise to Not Boring Capital, a VC fund that enabled him to start investing directly in the entrepreneurs he was meeting. His key differentiator? His ability to tell the stories of the founders he was backing to a targeted, high-quality tech audience.

Less than three years in, he has deployed two funds and raised a third, bigger than all the previous ones. In the meantime, Not Boring has become a next-generation media empire that includes two writers other than Packy, each of whom brings their specific expertise to the newsletter.

As Packy himself has said, he could not believe how Not Boring has changed his life and transformed his career. And it all started with one (seemingly) simple thing: building an engaged audience.

This means one thing only: you too can use your online presence to get your dream job. All you need to do is get started.

With love,

Team Salley

What is Salley?

​Salley helps you accelerate your career by learning new skills, such as building a strong online presence.