Still Processing.

A quick programming note from Jareau

👋🏾 Hi and welcome to Batch Processing! This is more of a programming note about the newsletter, my publishing schedule, and what to expect from Batch Processing going forward. If you just want to read about payments, check out my latest Batch: How to Improve Payment Authorization Rates.

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45 Days and 6 Batches Later

I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect this many people to be excited about topics like payments and profitability, but here we are with more than 1,600 Batch Processing subscribers (and growing!), including folks from Mastercard, UC Berkeley, FIS, Amazon, Marqeta, Mercado Libre, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Wharton, Shopify, Perkins Coie, WEX, Tiger Global, Block, and more. Thank you!

In January, when I announced I was going to focus on writing and consulting, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to think seriously about payments or fintech anymore, so I made commitments to consulting clients and assumed Batch Processing would remain a side project until at least April. But, in the last month, I have realized a few things:

I feel compelled to write. I sometimes literally can’t stop myself from thinking and writing about the latest payments-related news, a conversation I had with a founder, or how an industry trend will play out over the next several years. This takes the form of tweets, published posts, and even more posts still in my drafts.

I enjoy writing. I like the flow of it. I like the journey of starting with an idea, writing a paragraph, realizing the conceit doesn’t hold up, worrying I won’t have anything to publish that week, then figuring out something even better than what I had originally planned. I feel like I am learning new things and honing a craft.

I am a good writer. Since I started writing, many people have said very nice things about Batch Processing. The most rewarding feedback has been repeatedly hearing that I make complex, boring topics accessible and interesting. I also have quantitative feedback that I’m on to something. Since I January, I’ve gained nearly 1,000 new subscribers and my emails are averaging a 59% open rate!

I believe I will be able to earn a living as a writer. I intentionally started Batch Processing with a paid tier because I thought it was the most straightforward way to determine if I was providing value. So far, I am. In just 45 days, I’ve convinced over 100 people to pay me money to write about payments on the internet. Wild! Substack even gave me this cute badge to commemorate the milestone.

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Batch Processing will return in April 2023!

I find writing incredibly rewarding and I plan to spend the majority of my time on Batch Processing in the near future. But for the next month, I am going to take a pause from Batch Processing, make some improvements, and will return to publishing (about) once a week in April. Every paid subscriber will receive three complimentary months of Batch Processing to make up for the hiatus.

I’ll share more details soon, but know that my personal goal is to publish 100,000 words by end of the year, so there are plenty more batches coming.

In the meantime, check out some of my most popular posts about Square, Stripe, Adyen, Worldpay, PayPal, and more.