I averaged 15,000 words (give or take, might be a slight exaggeration there) this month.
That’s the same as a novella. Unlike George Orwell’s Animal Farm (around the same word count), my 15,000 words didn’t overthrow any pigs.
💡 First, I received a request from two founding members who wanted to provide a one-off top-up without changing the terms of their subscription.
Substack doesn’t allow for that much flexibility. But this is the closest I could get within the constraints of the platform.
If you are an existing subscriber and would like to drop a one-off non-recurring tip or payment, then click on the button below and pay away.
🚀 ICYMI, last night’s Southeast took a look at the Israel-inspired “network school” operating out of Malaysia and business interests eyeing fortunes in Timor-Leste.
It’s Halloween! The right day for cosplay.
Don’t be shy. Out of ideas? You can dress up as a VC, entrepreneur, Tan Sri or Tun (honourifics for Malaysia’s “esteemed” characters)… or journalist (low-cost option).
October has been chock-full of spooks. My balance hit the dreaded double digits, only to vanish because I didn’t cancel an app trial on time.
I hit a plateau and it burnt through cash reserves — an important but painful entrepreneurial lesson: it’s not the highs or the lows, it’s the dreaded middle that throws everything into a funk.
There was also an earnings flatline after a prominent media outfit posted the key points from my paywalled Aerodyne story on X.
I lost potential revenue that day. While the media house took the posts down, it was too late as the juicy bits were already doing the rounds on WhatsApp.
Who says all PR is good PR? There’s a strong case for no PR.
Some of these pain points will make the year-ender, and I suspect it’ll be a better one.
I’ve had some very amusing moments keeping The Malaysianist up and running.
Here are this month’s best reads — pieces that drew about 3,000 views and converted at least 10 paying subscribers (monthly/annual/founding) each.
As we enter the final two months of 2025, it’s no longer business as usual.
The thing about spooks is, you face them head on. There’s just no running away.
See you soon,
Emmanuel