My personal 2024 recap: Growing Embedded Finance Review from a newsletter into a multi-channel platform

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Hi embedded finance friend

I hope you enjoy the holidays and can spend plenty of time with your loved ones. Over the past few days, I visited my family in the north of Germany, but we travelled back to Berlin the day before.

You are reading my final newsletter for 2024. I will not write about the biggest embedded finance news stories for a change. Instead, I am writing a recap of 2024, describing where I stand with Embedded Finance Review and what I plan for 2025.

This edition covers

• My recap 2024

• High- & lowlights

• Plans for 2025

• Thank you!

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My recap 2024

Newsletter

• I sent 40 newsletters (incl. this one) with > 60.000 words

• I started the year with a bi-weekly newsletter cadence but switched to a weekly cadence during the summer

• My newsletter has an average open rate of ~57.8% and a click rate of ~11.4%

• And the subscriber base grew by 70% to ~ 1.422 over the past 12 months

Podcast

• I launched my podcast in June 2024 and published 15 episodes in 2024

• Initially, my podcast was only audio with a focus on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

• Since episode ten, I started to publish videos on YouTube

• Based on pure Spotify data

  • The podcast has listeners in 41 countries

  • The podcast ranks in the top 10 for 134 listeners, and it is the top 1 podcast for 27 listeners

Events

• I hosted 2 public evening events in Germany:

  • In April, as a side event of Fintech Berlin (“FIBE”) Conference with almost 100 guests

  • In October, as an official part of Berlin SaaS Week with around 60 guests

High- & lowlights

Highlights

• I started treating Embedded Finance Review like a real business

  • Initially, Embedded Finance Review was just the domain I used to publish my articles and, later, the newsletters.

  • However, as I grew my activities, I realised that Embedded Finance Review could be something (slightly) bigger.

  • I already tested a couple of monetisation activities. My intention was not solely to make money but to

    • determine whether I provide actual value.

    • allow me to spend more time on these activities.

  • My advisory business will remain my primary source of income for now, but this might shift over the next few years.

• Launched my podcast

  • I had the idea for an embedded finance-focused podcast for over a year before launching it in June 2024. I should have done it earlier, but well.

  • It is still early in my podcasting journey, and there is still so much to learn. However, the podcast has already opened doors for me that likely would have remained closed otherwise.

• Published my embedded finance guide

  • During the quiet summer weeks, I published a slide deck I have used for several speaking engagements and projects.

Lowlights

• Didn’t publish longer articles

  • Publishing the guide was a highlight, but I also planned to publish a series of longer articles to describe the details in greater depth.

  • However, I have not published a longer article on Embedded Finance Review and am still working on this series.

• Webflow page

  • I have been using Beehiiv to send my newsletter since early 2023 and have never considered switching. Beehiiv also allows you to create a landing page and a basic webpage, but the features are limited.

  • In early 2024, I decided I needed more capabilities and signed up with Webflow. I kept sending newsletters with Beehiiv but created a Webflow page that included pages for my newsletter, podcast, and event series.

  • However, I massively underestimated the additional effort required and overestimated what features I needed.

  • Long story short, I moved back to the Beehiiv page a couple of months ago. I probably spent €700-800 on this experiment (Weblow, template, a designer, Make-com integration, etc.). Sunk milk.

• No extension of event series

  • I planned to extend my event activities in 2024 but hosted only the same number of events as in 2023.

  • I tried to host an additional event in early 2024 but wasn’t able to create traction with sponsors (spoiler: I was more successful for events in 2025)

Plans for 2025

• Sponsor for newsletter and podcast

  • I have verbal and signed agreements with three companies that want to sponsor my newsletter and podcast.

  • I will likely start including them in mid or late-January and will continue to look for more.

• More events

  • I will announce my next event in early January, but I can already mention that it will happen in mid-February in Frankfurt/Main.

  • This will be the first event in Frankfurt and will likely mean that I will be hosting three events in Germany in 2025

  • Additionally, I will be hosting my first embedded finance private dinner in London (more details and including a chance to apply will follow soon) and am speaking with partners to bring my public event series to other European countries

• Longer and co-authored articles

  • Yes, I will publish a series of embedded finance-focused articles in early 2025 (what I had planned for 2024).

  • In addition, I am inviting embedded finance experts to join me in producing content in the form of longer articles (ping me if you have an idea). One piece is already in the making; hopefully, many will follow.

• A detailed overview of European BaaS providers

  • I have shared already that I am working on an overview of the European banking-as-a-service provider (and adjacent provider).

  • It will likely take a bit more time, but I plan to publish it in Q1 or Q2 of 2025.

  • Also, I have not decided if it will be one big launch or step-by-step (Currently tilting towards the latter).

• Maybe: Premium subscriptions

  • In the past twelve months, I wondered whether paid premium subscriptions or sponsors would be better. As you can see, I decided on sponsors. This is mainly because I do not want to put much of my content behind a paywall.

  • That being said, I wonder if there are other benefits I could offer my subscribers that are not additional content (I am currently thinking about monthly exclusive online events or other community offerings).

  • I am not entirely sure yet if I will launch something like this, but I will spend more time thinking about this (and you are free to upgrade to premium to support my work, but currently without any benefits)

• Maybe: Weekly podcasts

  • So far, I can't imagine recording and publishing a weekly podcast. Even though I no longer edit the podcast (thank you, team Orama), it is still a lot of work.

  • Nevertheless, my ultimate goal is to publish weekly podcasts. Will I achieve this in 2025? We will see.

Thank you!

A big thank you to all my readers, listeners, and event participants. If you have reached out to me in the past, you probably know that I appreciate any feedback and reply to every single email. I do not know where I will stand with Embedded Finance Review at the end of 2025. Still, I firmly believe that our industry can only win when we continue to share knowledge and help newcomers navigate it. Therefore, I will continue my efforts and invite you to support me however possible.

Happy New Year! 🥳