Emerging Technology, Writing and Process w/ Packy McCormick (Ep. 55)

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: Packy McCormick discusses his path from finance and startup operations to full-time newsletter writing, his research and writing method built on intersections of ideas, and how he thinks about narrative investing. He also explains his FEMSA thesis, emerging-market infrastructure plays, the Not Boring newsletter’s growth, and the Not Boring Syndicate’s role in combining media with investing.

Main Topics: Packy’s background and path to Not Boring (Priority: 5/5): He moved from Duke economics and finance roles into startup operations at Breather, then transitioned into full-time writing during the pandemic after experimenting with a small newsletter. Writing process, research, and imposter syndrome (Priority: 5/5): Packy describes a lightweight but intense weekly immersion process, his use of Rome and podcasts, and the anxiety of writing publicly about topics outside his formal expertise. Finding ideas through intersections and synthesis (Priority: 5/5): A major theme is that his value comes from combining frameworks across investing, tech, business strategy, and internet culture rather than being a narrow domain expert. FEMSA, emerging markets, and digital infrastructure (Priority: 5/5): He explains the bull case on FEMSA as a potential digital-wallet and internet on-ramp for Mexico, and broadens into why companies that own infrastructure in emerging markets can capture outsized value. Narrative investing and market cycles (Priority: 4/5): Packy argues that his edge is in identifying shifts in narrative more than building quantitative models, while acknowledging that bull markets can make narrative-driven investors look smarter than they are. Not Boring growth and the syndicate model (Priority: 4/5): He walks through newsletter growth from a few dozen subscribers to tens of thousands, and how his syndicate lets media create investing, recruiting, and customer-discovery flywheels. Future areas of interest (Priority: 3/5): He highlights future topics such as Facebook, DeFi, metaverse-related opportunities, India, Ghana, and financial infrastructure businesses like Main Street and Razorpay.

Key Arguments: Packy’s differentiated edge is not deep specialization in one field, but the ability to synthesize ideas from several fields into a fresh framework. Public writing is sustained by accountability and repetition more than talent alone; consistency and weekly deadlines matter more than perfection. In investing, he relies on narrative and expected narrative shifts rather than traditional modeling, especially for companies where perception and platform strategy drive valuation. Emerging markets create opportunity where digital infrastructure is missing, because the first meaningful platform in the middle of a fragmented system can become extremely valuable. FEMSA is attractive not just as a conglomerate-discount story, but as a possible digital-wallet and commerce gateway for Mexico’s underbanked population. Media properties can amplify investing by creating deal flow, recruiting, customers, and attention, not just returns from capital alone. Newsletter and syndicate growth came primarily from organic sharing, long-form differentiated content, and visibility on platforms like Twitter and Product Hunt. Packy views current market enthusiasm as partly structural and partly cyclical, and he remains unsure how his framework will perform in a bear market.

Data Points: Breather company funding: over $120 million - Packy describes Breather’s fundraising during his six-year run there. Initial newsletter subscribers: about 500 - He was writing Not Boring on the side before the pandemic and had around 500 subscribers when he decided to go full-time. First newsletter subscribers: 25 - After launching the newsletter, the first send reached 25 subscribers. Product Hunt growth jump: from about 1,200 to 3,500 subscribers in two days - A Product Hunt launch materially accelerated newsletter growth. Current newsletter size: about 23,000 subscribers - Packy says the newsletter had grown to roughly 23,000 subscribers at the time of the interview. Weekly growth after a missed week: 300 then 500 subscribers in subsequent weeks - He notes growth dipped when he missed a week after having a child. Typical weekly growth: 800 to 1,000 new subscribers per week - Packy says he had been steadily adding this many subscribers before the pause. Slack-related growth bump: about 1,300 subscribers in one week - He mentions a later week boosted by Slack acquisition-related interest and tweets. FEMSA ownership in Heineken: 15% stake - Part of FEMSA’s asset base in the investment thesis. FEMSA ownership in Coca-Cola bottling: 47.2% - He cites FEMSA’s stake in the bottling business. OXO store count: about 20,000 stores - The store network is central to FEMSA’s consumer and digital-wallet thesis. Mexico unbanked population: 60% - Used to explain why FEMSA can become a key digital commerce gateway. Reliance foreign investment: $30+ billion - He cites foreign investment attracted by Jio platforms and retail infrastructure. Main Street customer savings: $1.1 million returned - Not Boring readers reportedly recovered this amount through Main Street in aggregate. Main Street individual check example: $250,000 - He references a single large check generated for a user.

Pivotal Quotes: "If you combine those things, then like maybe I'm a bit more of an expert at like being comfortable with a bunch of those different things." — Packy McCormick: Explaining how he handles imposter syndrome by writing at the intersection of multiple domains. "That's really about kind of being unique and finding kind of the intersection of a few different things." — Packy McCormick: Describing his writing advantage and the ‘personal monopoly’ idea from David Perell’s course. "It's not just like people get a phone and they're like, oh, this makes sense. I'm going to do fintech stuff on here." — Packy McCormick: On why emerging-market adoption still requires education, trust, and product design.

Implications: The episode suggests that modern investing and media are converging: audience, research, and capital formation can reinforce each other. For listeners, the big lesson is to build frameworks at intersections, not chase perfect expertise.