How Dan Koe Makes $2 Million per Year Writing 2 Hours per Day

Situation

Dan Koe, a digital creator with nearly 4 million followers, built his brand around writing. His flagship product, The Koe Letter, is a weekly long-form newsletter focused on business, philosophy, and personal growth, now reaching over 175,000 subscribers. It’s the engine behind his content flywheel, powering his YouTube videos, tweets, digital products, and his software company, Kortex.

Challenge

Dan’s former email platform was clunky and lacked the flexibility needed to match his brand’s growth. He needed:

• Better customization and visual branding
• Seamless publishing to web + email
• Strong deliverability and onboarding support
• Scalable infrastructure to support long-form writing, repurposing, and monetization
  

Solution

Dan switched to beehiiv in late 2024, citing:

• A clean, customizable editor that matched his brand
• Automatic web publishing for SEO and multi-channel reach
• Built-in deliverability support and DNS setup help
• A product-first, founder-led culture that listens to creators
• Optional ad and growth tools that fit future needs without bloating the platform
  

Results

• Streamlined publishing process → writing first thing every morning
• Turned newsletters into YouTube scripts and pillar content
• Achieved $2M/year revenue with 2 hours of daily writing
• Built trust and impact through long-form content with 15–20 min “time under attention”
• Enhanced creative discipline and business clarity from consistent newsletter output