📌 Inside Workweek’s $1.1M email engine

Clear, value-packed & curiosity-inducing

Author

Anatoly Zaslaver
April 25, 2025

This week’s teardown is 🔥.

We’re diving into Workweek, the B2B media machine run by Adam Ryan (ex-Hustle prez, now building the Disney of business email).

👀 Heads-up — this might be for you:

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🎥 9 videos (all under 5 minutes)
📄 30+ templates + 5 AI prompts
🚀 A system to send your first issue in 10 days or less?

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Total win-win.

Backstory

Workweek launched in 2021 with a simple premise: take real operators from niche industries, like:

and turn them into newsletter stars.

But this wasn’t just a media play.

Adam had one mission: build a house of high-trust brands that make more money off the email list than on it.

Instead of one giant publication, Workweek runs multiple newsletters, each led by an insider with lived experience. The model allows:

  • Hyper-personalization: Each vertical (e.g., health systems, HR, franchising) serves a distinct ICP

  • Higher monetization: $150 CPMs, $3K memberships, and vertical SaaS

  • Shared infrastructure: Ghostwriting tools, data systems, and ad ops across all brands

More verticals = more ways to monetize, more shots on goal, and more leverage.

What's in it for you?

  1. Think “ad dollars = product signal”

  2. Turn your niche into a profession-first brand

  3. Adam’s best advice? Focus > more features, more offers, more anything

Email Delivery

Workweek’s newsletters boast <1% monthly churn after the 6-month mark.

This is the result of high-relevance, expert-driven content created by professionals for professionals.

Considering the email list size of dozens of thousands <1% is an unheard-of performance in the industry (the average churn rate in the industry)

Because each creator is their ICP, readers stick. As Adam says, “quality builds trust, and trust compounds.”

That’s why their LTV metrics and advertiser returns keep climbing.

All newsletters follow the same onboarding loop:

Signup → Content Fit Survey → Welcome Email.

This gives Workweek a pulse on subscriber intent from day one - helping creators craft relevant content and enabling ops to spot product-market fit before launching new offers.

One core belief behind this: quality content is how you earn permission to sell.

Content

Each newsletter is built around a professional persona 

  • HR Director

  • Health System Strategist, etc.

Content is created by insiders, not journalists- meaning it’s lived experience, not analysis.

It’s also audience-first.

Each creator is their ICP, which means they naturally write in the tone, depth, and structure their audience expects- whether that’s a graph-heavy format for healthcare or casual memes in HR.

Growth

Workweek grew to 510K+ subs across 10 newsletters in under 3 years. Here’s the model:

  • Phase 1: Heavy paid ads (especially for first 6–9 months per vertical)

  • Phase 2: Double down on ICP once content-market fit is nailed

  • Phase 3: Build organic flywheel (events, shares, community)

They support creators on social, then layer in in-person events, dinners, and summits. Everything is tracked: they measure retention by cohort, ICP penetration (e.g., % directors and above), and the time from signup to conversion.

Adam hates recommendation platforms (here’s why)

One test showed a 30% increase in list size- but CPMs dropped 30%.

Wrong audience = lower ROI.

Key metrics from top performers:

  • 510K cumulatively

  • 10 newsletters

  • <1% churn monthly (after 6 months)

  • 2–3x CTR for organic vs. rec-driven

  • 60–70% of list in their ICP

Monetization

This is where Workweek shines:

  • Ad revenue: $1.1M/month at peak in 2024, with CPMs as high as $150 thanks to their B2B focus and top-tier sales team.

  • Memberships: $400–$3,000/year paid communities with high LTV and recurring intent

  • Vertical SaaS: Tools like Crockett (for franchises) serve specific industries

  • Events: 75+ in 2023 - small dinners, big summits

  • Recruiting services: Executive-level placements tied to industry expertise

  • Lead gen: Selling qualified leads to vendors

Every product starts small: a lead magnet → $10 guide → paid network. No big launches without signal.

P.S. oh, and…

I hope you found value here.

If so, please forward this to 2 friends who might benefit as well - sign up here.

P.P.S.

Questions about newsletter growth, monetization, or other how-to topics?

Reply to this email or connect with me on ​LinkedIn.​

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