How World Builders Grew to 11,000+ Subscribers Using Twitter Threads and beehiiv

Overview

World Builders is a weekly newsletter by Nathan Baugh that lives at the intersection of business, technology, and storytelling. Drawing from a background in engineering, tech consulting, and fiction writing, Nathan breaks down how founders, creators, and companies use storytelling to build loyalty, trust, and long-term brand value.

Each edition deconstructs a real-world example: ranging from Steve Jobs and Michael Jordan to Formula 1 and Shopify and turns abstract storytelling theory into tactical insights readers can apply to marketing, sales, and entrepreneurship.

World Builders is built and scaled on beehiiv.

The Challenge

Before launching World Builders, Nathan had experience running a newsletter on MailerLite, where two limitations became clear:

• No native referral program
• Limited design customization
• Fewer built-in growth tools

For World Builders, the goal wasn’t just publishing—it was building an audience quickly and cleanly, with a newsletter that looked polished and supported growth from day one.

Why beehiiv

Nathan launched World Builders directly on beehiiv to take advantage of:

• Full design customization for a clean, editorial look
• Native growth features built specifically for newsletters
• Twitter subscribe button integration, enabling frictionless conversion from social to email
• A product roadmap clearly optimized for creators, not general email marketers

beehiiv allowed Nathan to focus on content and distribution—without duct-taping third-party tools together.

Growth Strategy

World Builders’ growth is driven primarily by Twitter threads.

Nathan publishes one long-form Twitter thread per week, each aligned with a newsletter topic. These threads act as top-of-funnel content, offering immediate value while naturally pointing readers to the newsletter for deeper analysis.

This approach created a seamless progression:
Thread → Subscribe → Weekly habit

At the time of this case study:

• World Builders surpassed 11,000 subscribers
• An estimated ~9,000 subscribers came directly from Twitter threads

beehiiv’s Twitter integrations made the jump from platform to inbox frictionless.

Content Strategy

Each issue focuses on:

• How a company or individual tells their story
• Why that story works psychologically
• How readers can replicate the approach

Instead of abstract theory, Nathan anchors every lesson in specific, repeatable frameworks, making the newsletter valuable for founders, marketers, salespeople, and creators alike.

Favorite beehiiv Features

Customization & Editor
Enabled a clean, polished newsletter that reinforces credibility and engagement.

Growth Integrations (Twitter)
Lowered the barrier between social content and email subscriptions.

Rapid Product Iteration
Consistent feature shipping aligned with creator needs around growth and monetization.

Results

• Grew to 11,000+ subscribers primarily through organic Twitter distribution
• Built a repeatable, creator-led growth loop
• Launched with professional design and scalability from day one
• Positioned the newsletter for future monetization and referrals

World Builders shows what’s possible when great content is paired with the right platform.

By launching on beehiiv, Nathan was able to focus on what mattered most: writing, distribution, and audience growth, without stitching together tools or fighting platform limits.

If you’re building a newsletter and want:

• Native growth tools
• Clean, flexible design
• Seamless social-to-email conversion
• A platform built specifically for creators

beehiiv is built for exactly this.

Start building your newsletter on beehiiv today.