The LetterStack Podcast
The LetterStack Podcast
Podcast Description
Build your newsletter and achieve online growth, with high quality content from the top 1% of successful newsletter creators across the world
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
Focuses on newsletter growth strategies, content creation best practices, and community engagement with episodes detailing specific journeys like Web3Daily's rapid growth from 0 to 55k subscribers and discussions on building trust in the crypto space.
Build your newsletter and achieve online growth, with high quality content from the top 1% of successful newsletter creators across the world
Ready to turn a travel side-project into a full-time, six-figure newsletter? In Episode 5 of the LetterStack Podcast, Renga chats with Chris Cerra, founder of RemoteBase and Digital Nomad Trip Reports, about bootstrapping a lean media empire (and why he runs it under the delightfully named Mad Banana Media).
What you’ll learn:
How Chris went from a niche UK tax job ➜ remote-work globetrotter ➜ newsletter founder
Launch playbook: 112 Slack-group subscribers on day 1 → the slow grind to 10 K+
Free vs Paid vs Sponsorships: why he swings the “revenue pendulum” toward sponsors
Platform wars: Mailchimp pains, Beehiiv migration hacks and running two ESPs at once
Content ops: sourcing Airbnb-style long-stay deals and crowd-sourcing trip reports
Buying a small list? Chris’s real-world micro-acquisition story (and what he paid)
The “banana” brand strategy & his 3-tier consulting offer (audit, strategy, email-doctor)
Starting today: Chris’s advice for building the next RemoteBase in 2025–26
Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro & name pronunciation (it’s Chera!)
02:12 – Life before RemoteBase: from marketing grad to tax-tech desk job
03:54 – First taste of remote work (2016) and the travel itch
05:27 – Launching RemoteBase inside a Slack community (112 subs day 1)
07:42 – The very slow road to 1 K & why that was OK
09:09 – Quitting the day job: part-time → “burn the boats”
12:24 – ESP saga: Weebly → Mailchimp → Beehiiv (free first, paid later)
15:14 – Free list vs RemoteBase Premium numbers & revenue split
17:17 – How long-stay deal curation actually works (team, tools, “magic”)
22:35 – Trip Reports: community-generated content + list micro-acquisition
28:05 – What is Mad Banana Media & the “Email Doctor” service?
34:03 – Chris’s playbook for new creators: start organic, engage 1-on-1, keep it fun
👉 Subscribe to LetterStack for operator-level interviews on building, monetizing, and scaling newsletters.
🌐 Explore RemoteBase deals → remotebase.co
🍌 Mad Banana Media consulting → madbananamedia.com
📩 Digital Nomad Trip Reports → tripreports.remote-base.co
#newslettergrowth#digitalnomad#remotework#RemoteBase#Beehiiv#MadBananaMedia#LetterStackPodcast
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