I have refrained from the Substack discourse for a minute but Derek Thompson leaving the Atlantic for this platform is yet another signal that this is going to become effectively Spotify for writers. Consumers have limited budgets, and if there’s a choice between spending $80 on you and, say, Derek Thompson, chances are they’re going to choose the latter. The money is going to funnel towards the top and be siphoned away from anyone who hasn’t created a massive audience for themselves by putting in work on institutional platforms.