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How Caleb Maru Grew Tech Safari to 15k Subscribers With beehiiv
How Maru Used beehiiv To Become a Leading Voice in African Tech
Kanishka Kumawat & Brandon Storey
September 25th, 2024
Content is the modern resume.
Why?
According to Caleb Maru, founder of Tech Safari newsletter, it can “get you into any room you want.”
Through his newsletter, he’s been able to build a media company, host events, monetize his audience, and become an authority in the African tech space.
Tech Safari is a beehiiv newsletter focused solely on the tech world in Africa.
In the newsletter, Maru and his team share the latest news, trends, tools, and events in the African tech space in a twice-a-week newsletter.
Now, let’s dive into how beehiiv helped Maru grow his audience to over 15,000 people in under two years.
Table of Contents
Tech Safari Backstory
Meet Caleb Maru, the voice behind Tech Safari:
Caleb Maru is the founder and CEO of Tech Safari, a media company that was birthed out of a newsletter.
Maru explained, “The newsletter is really covering tech across Africa for both an African audience and also a global one.”
Maru shared how his goal is to tell Africa’s tech story with the world. “We know that there is so much potential here for tech in a different way to every other ecosystem that I've ever seen, and I think that there's an opportunity to tell that story globally.”
We asked Maru to share why he started a newsletter in the first place.
He answered, “I wanted a central place to put everything into. I was seeing a lot of interest-based newsletters at the time. I subscribed to a few newsletters that were coming up like Milk Road; I love Packy’s newsletter (Not Boring Newsletter). I was like, “I think something like this could be really valuable for the continent.”
One of the main reasons Maru eventually launched his own newsletter was because he didn’t want to rely on social media since he didn’t own the audience there.
He shared, “I thought a newsletter was a good medium to get an active audience. I was posting a lot on LinkedIn, and I was getting traction and views; but I didn't own that audience.”
Maru continued, “One of the beautiful things about a newsletter is it's a CSV file at the end of the day, so you can download it. Whereas LinkedIn, if they change the algorithm where I get hacked or something, it's gone. I wanted to build a deeper relationship with my readers who were really engaged on LinkedIn.”
Maru started his newsletter unsure of what it would become for his business. He was just experimenting with it at the time, but something changed when he hit 1,000 subscribers.
He explained, “We had this event in Rwanda. And the next day, we're really close to 1,000, and then we just hit it the following day. It was such a big moment. I was like, ‘This is real. People really enjoy this.’ I remember being in this AirBnb celebrating and just sending screenshots to everyone.”
Maru continued, “It went from being an experiment, and now it’s a bit more validated.”
What Is beehiiv to Maru?
We asked Maru what beehiiv is to him and his business.
He replied, “It’s where we host our content. It’s how we build a relationship with our readers, and it gives us really good insights and ability to interact with our users in interesting ways.”
Maru believes that a newsletter is the perfect testing ground for new business initiatives.
He explained, “I think what makes it useful for us is we get to really test a lot of different things out in real time, create different media easily, and collaborate as a team.”
Maru wasn’t certain of newsletters at first. But the more he dove in and saw his list grow, the more he was sold on the idea.
Maru shared, “I used to think just running a blog was fine; but, now, there's no harm in doing a newsletter. They can be the same thing. You can have a blog that's also a newsletter. You can have such a deeper experience with someone when you have that email. It's like giving someone the key to the door.”
Moving from Substack to beehiiv
Maru, like many other beehiiv creators, started his newsletter on Substack. Then, when he found out about beehiiv, he quickly switched over.
He explained, “I actually launched on Substack. I moved to beehiiv because I wanted some more functionality around growth, and I just didn't love the Substack format.”
Maru felt like he didn’t have enough freedom when it came to customizing his newsletter and tracking analytics.
“I couldn’t customize much. I couldn’t get good data on anything. I just realized it wasn’t a really practical platform. They weren’t taking into account what users needed. I started a newsletter that was on beehiiv, and then I was like, ‘This is just way better.’”
Maru also was impressed by the beehiiv leadership early on.
He recalled, “Tyler Denk is such a hustler. Back in 2022, he would be responding to queries, and I was like, ‘This is like the CEO. That's pretty nice.’” And then there's Daniel, the growth guy. I was spending a lot of time learning from these guys and talking to them, and I was like, ‘This feels like actual people.’” This level of support made me excited about building the newsletter.”
Enjoying this beehiiv case study? Learn how Kaitlyn Arford Grew to 11,000 subscribers on beehiiv.
What Made beehiiv Stand Out
While Maru was at Substack for a while, beehiiv quickly became a better choice for him as it rose up in the newsletter scene.
He shared, “Substack wasn't as good, and I was like, ‘I want to grow this thing.’ One key feature was referral campaigns. I’ve worked in growth in other startups. I've seen how important referral campaigns can be for growth.”
Maru explained, “At my last startup, we launched a referral campaign; and just for a small test, the company completely blew up and did really well. So I was like, ‘This is crucial.’ I couldn't do that in Substack, so I was like, ‘I want to move to beehiiv.’”
Results Since Using beehiiv
Since joining beehiiv, Maru has grown his Tech Safari newsletter to over 15,000 subscribers. Not only has he seen growth, but he’s also been able to refine the health and engagement of his newsletter list with beehiiv.
He shared, “We started using automations to clean our list, and that's one of my favorite things. We set up this automation that unsubscribed everyone who wasn't reading in a certain period of time. Our numbers have dropped, but our readership is so much more focused. We're getting much better engagement from our readers.”
Maru continued, “I'm really happy about that side of things — being able to have control and make things automated to suit the newsletter. It's been nice for my team as well. They're able to manage it and work on it quite well.”
We asked Maru to shed some light on the nitty-gritty of operating a 15,000-subscriber newsletter.
He explained how he uses Notion for drafting his newsletters before plugging them into the beehive editor. He also uses it for the Tech Safari editorial process where he and his team brainstorm ideas, pitch ideas to each other, and more.
Maru shared how he’s been able to leverage the “send a test email” feature to maintain the quality assurance of his newsletter.
He shared, “One of the more useful features is you're able to send a test email, so you know exactly what it looks like. That's helpful because in the past we've dropped it on a document, then put it into beehiiv. When we send the final product, sometimes it looks really different and people we work with get pissed, so being able to send them a test email is super helpful.”
Favorite beehiiv Features
When it comes to beehiiv, features, Maru was quick to rave about beehiiv’s analytics and audience research features.
He shared, “I love the dashboards, but I think my favorite feature is polling. We have a poll at the end of each article, and it's so good for collecting data, on two levels. One is the poll on what people think, and having people send comments is so helpful.”
Maru explained, “We just throw in so many polls in there just to ask questions from our audience. We also host events around the world for our audience. For example, we're thinking of doing an event in New York. Who would come? If 10 people say ‘yes,’ then we're just not going to go to New York. I think it's actually so helpful just to test things with our audience.”
Maru doesn’t just leverage beehiiv polls to determine where he should host tech events. He’s also using them to test out ideas for new products and services.
He explained, “We launched this product, ‘content as a service,’ which is actually becoming an agency now [that we’re building out of the newsletter]. We tested it on our email list, and we had 10 people say, ‘Yeah, we want to try this out with you.’”
WIth a single poll, Maru was able to get immediate feedback on whether or not he should launch a service.
The result? He was able to secure 10 upfront payments for a content service from his audience.
Maru shared, “One of the benefits of having an audience is being able to just communicate with them and test stuff out. With beehiiv, we have this cadence where we can launch tests really quickly through polling and also through having the platform.”
Maru has monetized his newsletter in a few different ways:
Sponsored ads
Paid newsletter
In-person events (sponsored0
Content service
He shared, “We started with ads, and then we decided ads are just a bit too finicky. You have to sell quite a couple for it to make sense, and I just didn't want to sell $200 ad spots; so we moved to doing paid editions where we use storytelling just to unpack one company — kind of like a deep dive into a company or an idea and that's been so good.”
Maru continued, “We do in-person events, which we have big sponsors for, like Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Twilio. It’s folks who want to reach African startups, but otherwise wouldn't have access. We also have the content agency as well, which we built from our audience.”
Goals for Next Year
After experiencing the success of his Tech Safari newsletter, Maru plans on launching new ones in 2025.
He shared, “I'm interested in launching different newsletters rather than growing my existing one. We have a very strong community and a really engaged readership. This ecosystem isn't that big. It's probably more like around 100,000 people in the tech ecosystem. So having 15,000 of them reading a newsletter twice a week, that's pretty good.”
Maru explained how he plans on launching adjacent newsletters and is interested in leaning more into African culture.
He shared, “I'm interested in different types of expansion and how we can build around tech in Africa. Can we launch something similar but around African diaspora? That's a unique user group that’s undeserved and doesn't have a defining thing that brings them back to the continent. African culture is exploding. You hear Afrobeat music everywhere.”
Maru continued, “I know you can manage different newsletters through beehiiv, and so that's a pretty interesting thing for us, too. We have one team, but we're really almost newsletter native. That's how we operate, and we launch different newsletters in different categories.”
Advice for Newcomers to the Newsletter World
We asked Maru to share any advice he had for creators new to the newsletter game. He explained how it’s one of the best ways to build up your authority in any space.
Maru shared, “It was just me a year and a half ago, and now it's a team of 10 and an agency and an events team; and we travel the globe doing events in African Tech. A newsletter is a way to be a domain expert or carve out your section within a domain with a specific audience.”
He continued, “Building trust with a big group of people in a space you want to operate in is crucial if you want to have any sort of cloud or leverage.”
Maru is extremely bullish on the creator economy, especially when it comes to creating content since it opens up a world of opportunities.
He explained, “Content is the last vestige of the American dream. If you write good content, you can get into any room you want. To me, that’s priceless. The things I’ve been able to attend or go to just because I write about tech – I’m the ‘African tech voice.’ People would otherwise never invite a 26-year-old to a meeting or event like that.”
Maru shared how a newsletter is an incredible way to build trust and do something you’re passionate about. But to succeed, you need to be consistent.
Maru closed by saying, “It takes a lot of time and consistency, but I think three focused months of writing and you can start something quite significant. Just be consistent. Do it every week and don't stop and focus on improving and getting feedback until you find something that works.”
Key Takeaways
Caleb Maru started his beehiiv newsletter two years ago to support the African tech industry. He has since launched events all over the world, created multiple income streams, and built an audience of over 15,000 readers.
Here are some key takeaways:
Test, Test, & Test Some More: If you’re unsure of what direction to take your newsletter when it comes to growth or monetization, just start testing things out. Don’t be afraid to try something new. You can always pivot later, if necessary.
Experiment With Different Income Streams: Maru monetized through ads, in-person events (that are sponsored), a paid newsletter, and a content service business. Try tapping into new revenue streams to maximize newsletter profit.
Leverage Audience Feedback as Much as Possible: Maru constantly asks his audience for feedback — both when it comes to his content and his products and services. Use beehiiv polls on a regular basis to continue serving your readers and test out new income streams.
Build an Audience To Build Your Authority: More than anything, Maru has become a thought leader in the market by consistently creating content and becoming “outspoken” in that lane. You can break into any market by publishing regular newsletters, which will open up endless opportunities.
By leveraging beehiiv’s platform, Maru was able to grow his newsletter to over 15,000 readers, launch multiple income streams with his media business, and become a leading voice in a growing niche.
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