Chasing negative CAC - Examples and Ideas

I've been obsessing over the idea of negative CAC and how to achieve it. Here are a few ways to achieve negative CAC and some examples of companies that did it right: 1. Self-sustainable media projects you incubate in-house or acquire 2. Crack the nut of user-generated content (like Notion did with community templates) 3. Being a barnacle on a whale - Grow within a larger ecosystem through their marketplace (like Pixel Union did with Shopify) I'm interested in creating self-sustainable media projects, and it's something I'm actively pursuing for Videodeck. HubSpot is doing it with MyFirstMillion Semrush is doing it with Backlinko.com Slidebean is doing it with their YouTube channel OptinMonster is doing it with WPbegginer FreightWaves SONAR is doing it with FreightWaves (check the first comment for info from Craig on how he did it) Essentially, what you want to do is to create a SELF-SUSTAINALBE place where you can attract and resonate with your people. The people that are likely interested in what you have to offer. Your ICP. If you do a good enough job building that media publication, you can go beyond monetizing it just by using it as a lead magnet. You can play with advertising, paid courses, paid newsletters, affiliates, and more. If you have a great internal content team with proven results, you should consider creating an independent media project. Yes, there are advantages to continuing to build and compound growth on existing initiatives, like your blog or existing content projects on your website. However, an external media project gives you the flexibility to do things you normally couldn't do on your own website. You get to own audiences instead of renting them.