Latest / The Career Change Podcast with Fexingo: Switching Fields, Bootcamps, and Reskilling / How Bootcamp Grads Can Break Into AI Newsletter Writing
Transcript
- Lucas: So here's a stat that stopped me this morning — as of August 2026, there are over 2,000 active ai focused newsletters on Substack alone, and that number's been climbing about 15 percent month over month since the start of the year. Luna: That's wild. But what does that mean for someone who just finished a coding bootcamp and is looking for their first tech-adjacent job? Lucas: It means there's a real opening that most bootcamp grads completely overlook: becoming an AI newsletter writer. Companies and independent creators are desperate for people who can read a machine learning paper, summarize it in plain English, and make it sound interesting enough to get a click. Luna: So you're basically saying that bootcamp grads — who've been trained to think logically and absorb technical jargon — might actually be better suited for this than traditional English majors? Lucas: Yeah, that's exactly the angle. And it's not just about Substack gigs. Venture capital firms, AI startups, even big consultancies are all hiring people to write internal and external AI summaries. One fintech company I was reading about hired a bootcamp grad specifically to translate model risk assessments for their board. Luna: Let's talk about the specific case you mentioned in the show notes — the front-end bootcamp grad who became the lead writer for an AI research newsletter. Lucas: Right. So her name is Priya, and she did a twelve-week full-stack bootcamp in 2025. But instead of applying for junior developer roles, she started a newsletter called 'The Transformer Summary' — just you know, a Substack where she broke down one AI paper a week. Luna: And that led to a job? Lucas: Within eight weeks, she had about 400 subscribers, mostly through posting summaries on the r/MachineLearning subreddit and tagging authors on X. Then a venture-backed AI research firm reached out and offered her a full-time role as their lead newsletter writer. She now makes ninety-five thousand a year plus equity. Luna: Ninety-five thousand with equity — that's not bad for someone who spent three months in a bootcamp and never wrote a word professionally before. Lucas: And the key thing is, she wasn't a great writer going in. She was a decent coder who learned to write. The bootcamp taught her how to reason about systems, how to read documentation, how to ask the right questions. That's exactly what AI writing demands. Luna: So what are the actual skills you need to break into this? Like, if someone's listening and thinking, 'I could do that,' what should they be working on tonight? Lucas: First, you need to be able to read a research paper and extract the core idea. You don't need a PhD, but you need basic familiarity with concepts like model training, fine-tuning, and evaluation metrics. Your bootcamp probably gave you enough of that. Luna: But what about the writing itself? Isn't there a big difference between writing code and writing prose? Lucas: Sure, but the principles are similar. You're communicating complex logic to a specific audience. In code, you're telling a computer what to do. In a newsletter, you're telling a human why this model matters. And you can practice in low-stakes ways — start a blog, write LinkedIn posts, summarize a paper a week. Luna: And you should probably learn to use AI tools to speed up your research, right? I mean, the irony of using ChatGPT to write about AI. Lucas: Not just ChatGPT — though that's a start. You can use RSS feeds to track arXiv preprints, or set up a Google Scholar alert for specific authors. Then you draft your summary, and you can use language models to suggest clearer phrasings or catch jargon you're overusing. But you've got to be the final editor, because the whole value is your perspective. Luna: What about the business side? How do you find people willing to pay for this kind of writing? Lucas: There are two main paths. One is freelance — you can pitch to established AI newsletters, tech blogs, or even corporate clients who want someone to write about their AI initiatives. The other is to build your own newsletter and monetize through subscriptions or sponsorships. The second takes longer but gives you more ownership. Luna: I've seen some bootcamp grads do the 'build in public' thing — posting their learning journey online. Does that help here? Lucas: Huge. If you document your own process of learning AI concepts, that itself is content. You're showing you can explain things clearly, which is the exact skill employers and clients want. One guy I follow went from zero to three thousand LinkedIn followers in three months just by posting a daily 'AI concept explained in 60 seconds' video. Luna: That's smart. But for people who want a more structured route, are there any actual job titles they should search for? Lucas: Look for 'AI content writer,' 'technical content strategist,' 'machine learning copywriter,' or just 'newsletter editor.' On LinkedIn, filter by companies that are ai focused — you'll see a ton of startups hiring for these roles. Also check job boards specifically for remote work, because a lot of these are fully remote. Luna: What about the pay range? You mentioned Priya's ninety-five thousand, but is that typical? Lucas: For a full-time staff role at a well-funded startup, I've seen anywhere from seventy to one hundred and twenty thousand, depending on experience and location. Freelance rates can be anywhere from fifty cents to a dollar per word, or a flat retainer of one to three thousand a month for a weekly newsletter. Not bad for a bootcamp grad. Luna: Quick honest thing — we've been doing this show for a while now, and it's completely ad-free. A small group of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that's literally what funds us making this many of these. If you've found a career tip here useful, that's one way to keep it going. Lucas: And we genuinely appreciate that. It keeps us independent and lets us cover niche topics like this one. But back to the main thread — what about the long-term career path? Is newsletter writing a dead end, or can it lead somewhere bigger? Luna: That's the question I'd want answered, because I don't want to invest six months in a niche skill and then hit a ceiling. Lucas: It's actually a great springboard. Writers who understand AI deeply are becoming the new product marketers, the new analysts, even the new founders. A lot of AI thought leaders started as newsletter writers, and now they're consultants or running their own content agencies. You're building a personal brand and a network that compounds. Luna: So someone could start as a newsletter writer and pivot into a comms lead role or a product marketing manager at an AI company. That's a real path, not just a side hustle. Lucas: Exactly. And the demand is only going to grow. As AI becomes more integrated into every industry, companies need people who can explain it to executives, to clients, to the public. Bootcamp grads who can code and write have a unique combination. Luna: What about the risk that AI itself will write all these newsletters in a few years? Is that a concern? Lucas: Sure, the tools will get better at generating summaries. But a newsletter isn't just a summary — it's a point of view, a curation, a conversation with an audience. Readers subscribe because they trust a human's judgment about what matters. That's hard to automate. Luna: That's a good point. So if someone wants to start today, what's the first concrete step? Lucas: Pick one AI sub-topic you genuinely care about — could be AI in healthcare, AI in finance, whatever. Start a free Substack or even a LinkedIn newsletter. Commit to publishing one post per week for twelve weeks. Don't worry about subscribers for the first month. Just focus on improving your clarity and your consistency. Luna: And then what? After those twelve weeks, how do you turn that into income? Lucas: After twelve weeks, you'll have a portfolio of twelve sample posts. Then you start pitching. You can reach out to existing AI newsletters and offer to be a guest contributor, or you can approach startups and say, 'I've written twelve deep dives on AI in fintech, and I'd love to help you create similar content.' You've proven you can do the work. Luna: That's a solid plan. And it doesn't require a huge time investment — maybe a few hours a week if you're efficient with AI tools. Lucas: Right. And one more tip: network with researchers and practitioners. Engage with their posts, ask thoughtful questions. When you finally publish a piece, tag them. They'll often share it, which gives you early credibility. That's how Priya got her first hundred subscribers. Luna: So the takeaway for bootcamp grads is: don't just think about coding jobs. Think about the huge demand for people who can bridge the gap between technical AI and business understanding. That's a real opportunity. Lucas: And it's one that plays to your strengths. You already know how to learn quickly, how to break down complex problems, and how to communicate with a technical audience. Add a bit of writing practice, and you've got a skill set that's rare and valuable. Luna: Have you seen any bootcamp grads actually make this transition successfully beyond Priya? Or is she the outlier? Lucas: She's not an outlier. I've talked to three more in the last month alone. One went from a data science bootcamp to a content role at an AI safety nonprofit. Another is freelancing for two different AI newsletters while they build their own audience. There's a pattern here. Luna: That's encouraging. So what's the biggest mistake you see people make when they try this? Lucas: They try to be too academic. They write like a research paper instead of a blog post. The whole point is to make AI accessible. If you can explain a concept to a smart friend who isn't a techie, you're on the right track. Avoid jargon, use analogies, and always answer the 'so what' question. Luna: Any final tip for someone who's about to start their first newsletter this weekend? Lucas: Don't overthink the name or the design. Just publish. Your first posts will be rough, but they'll get better. And remember, you're not just writing a newsletter — you're building a career asset that can lead to a job, a client, or even your own startup. The key is to start.