Personal update (It's time for a new chapter)

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Hi friends,

I have an update to share with you about Write of Passage. The company is going to shut down at the end of the year, and the next cohort will be our last.

This has not been an easy decision, but it’s necessary. And I want to explain what happened, especially for our alumni.

Our company, course, and community are alive and radiant. We have alumni who’ve poured their hearts into this community and built intimate friendships, we have a team who treats their work as soulcraft, and we have a culture of craftsmanship that is rare. That’s why this decision is so devastating.

I started Write of Passage to take the loneliness out of writing. The vision was to bring life to writing education. That meant building a community of people to support each other and a curriculum that feels nothing like your 5th-grade English class. Those things I envisioned, but I never expected to attract so many people who are off the charts in curiosity and enthusiasm. They’re the ones who’ve given Write of Passage so much life.

At the level of our mission, Write of Passage has been an astounding success. We’ve pushed the limits on what an online course can be with hyper-energetic Zoom sessions and a talented fleet of mentors and editors. We attracted 2,000+ students from 72 countries, reached a Net Promoter Score of 75 (higher than Apple), and we have alumni who went from publishing their first article in the course to publishing books or growing to 100,000+ subscribers. After a recent cohort, when we asked students about their experience, the phrase “life-changing” showed up 39 times.

If you had told me all that without showing me the finances, I would have assumed that Write of Passage was growing fast and swimming in revenue, but that hasn't happened.

We’ve built something worth celebrating in every way, except for the economics of the business. The first three years were roaring, but the past two have been grueling. Growth has been particularly difficult and I’ve been feeling constrained by the bi-annual cohort model itself. You need more than a great product to make a business work, and the main thing we were missing was a dependable flow of new students.

I’m eager to prioritize creative work again too. I originally started Write of Passage to subsidize my creative work but the demands of running the company took me away from that. There are people who can do high-quality writing while running a company, but I’m not one of them. I think I can have a bigger impact doing something else, and so, the company has run its course. Specifically, I’m eager to double-down on How I Write and prioritize my own writing again. And who knows? Maybe it’s time to write a book.

But like I said, we’re not done yet! Write of Passage will have its grand finale. The final Write of Passage cohort will run from October 7th – November 13th, and enrollment is now open.

We’re pulling out the stops to make this cohort the biggest and best yet. For one, we’re making it more accessible by lowering the price for people who enroll early, and we’re expanding the scholarship pool. So, if you’ve ever wanted to experience the magic of Write of Passage, this is your last chance.

What I'll remember fondly is the heart that Write of Passage students brought to every cohort. From Feedback Gyms to Live Sessions, I could always count on them to show up with passion and dedication (even if they went a little crazy in the Zoom chat).

Have a creative week,

David Perell

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P.S. I recorded a 76-minute guide to copywriting with Harry Dry, and I have my money on it becoming the most popular How I Write episode yet. 100s of comments. 118,000 views on YouTube. If copywriting is at all interesting to you, I promise it's worth your time.

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