We spoke with Zach Haigney of The Trip Report, a newsletter covering the business, policy, and impact of psychedelics.With a background in clinical research and acupuncture, Zach has closely followed the psychedelics industry for years. As the topic started to gain momentum, he was inspired to write about it. Zach covers not just the business and policy landscape, but also the science behind psychedelics and their long-term cultural impact. These diverse focus areas have allowed him to gain a variety of readers, from psychedelic enthusiasts to investors, researchers, and clinicians who are building the emerging psychedelics ecosystem. We talked to Zach about why he’s excited about the psychedelics industry, his early days of writing his newsletter and building his audience, and why he believes independent publishing is so important.LinksThe Trip Report, Zach’s newsletterZach on TwitterMultidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), an organization that has been studying psychedelics since 1986How to Change Your Mind, a book by Michael Pollan about the science of psychedelics60 Minutes, an episode on how researchers experiment with psychedelics to treat addiction, depression and anxietyPsychedelics Today, a podcast on how psychedelics relate to human potential and healingHighlights(10:47) Why psychedelics are a hot topic right now (21:55) Why Zach believes independent publishing is important (27:40) The Trip Report’s community of readers and subscribers(36:42) How Zach grew his newsletter list, despite not having a preexisting audience or social media following(41:59) How Zach powered through writing in the early days and learned from other newsletter writers (47:12) Why Zach decided to start a paid newsletterOn social media:Social media is a weird place. I don't know how to navigate it. I feel much more comfortable in the confines of a newsletter. The medium of the newsletter, where you're going to somebody's email is really ... it makes sense to me. I get it and I love it.On imposter syndrome:If you can use imposter syndrome when you're writing your newsletter, it's a great tool because it forces you to think about what you don't know, and use that to flesh out the questions of what you don't yet understand. That's great fodder for, at least, what I'm trying to do.TranscriptNadia (00:42):First question, which I'm sure a lot of people ask you, is how did you start writing about psychedelics?Zach (00:50):I've been watching the development of a few of the organizations that have been funding the science. There's been some research over the last 20 odd years or so of really small studies of looking at psychedelics for things like depression and cancer-related anxiety and some other indications. They're really impressive results for really challenging conditions. I've been watching this and watching it grow and I felt I missed the boat of a career of being involved in this space. I knew I wasn't going to go back to school to be a scientist or I didn't quite know how to get in. I started writing about it. Here we are.Nadia (01:36):Love it. I mean, it seems like you have been involved or in and around both Eastern and Western medicine and that you have an ongoing interest in the human body. I guess psychedelics helps bridge that gap.Zach (01:50):I spent my first stint in a career in clinical research right out of college. I did HIV and Hep C clinical trials. I managed what's called an expanded access program in phase two pharmacokinetic studies. That was really cool. I was planning to go to medical school and be a doctor. Just through whatever circumstances, I decided, at some point, to pursue acupuncture and Chinese medicine. I went to acupuncture school. After that, I did have a brief stint in Silicon Valley. That was a huge embarrassing failure.Nadia (02:30):Yeah. Been there.Zach (02:32):But yeah. I've been working with patients primarily for conditions like chronic musculoskeletal pain for the last five or six years