Emanuel Cinca didn’t come from media royalty. He didn’t raise VC money. He didn’t start with an audience. He just saw something missing and built it.
“I was reading Morning Brew for finance, but my job was marketing. Where was the newsletter for people like me—not CMOs, but the ones doing the actual work?”
That frustration became Stacked Marketer, now a trusted daily briefing for 90,000+ hands-on marketers.
“It started with a few hundred people. Just trying to see if there was a signal. I asked around. They shared it. That was enough to keep going.”
This story explores what occurs when you choose to disengage from hype and prioritize usefulness, not through algorithms, but through human connections.
Marketing, Minus the BS
When Emanuel launched the newsletter in 2018, it wasn’t polished. It wasn’t ready to go viral. It was concise, actionable, and unapologetically practical.
“We wanted something you could read in five minutes and know what matters. Not just headlines. Insight.”
Instead of promotional fluff or “breaking news” that no one requested, the team concentrated on one goal: helping marketers do their jobs.
“No one on our team is a trained journalist. Everyone has run real campaigns. That’s who we write for.”
Curation Is Not Aggregation
Their editorial process is where the trust is built. It’s not about being first, it’s about being right and relevant.
“We collect 20 to 30 links daily. But we ask: Can we trust this? What do the comments say? What’s the counterpoint?”
That means some posts get dropped entirely. Others are held for a few days.
“We let some posts marinate. We check reactions. Comments. Then we decide if it’s worth including.”
And when they get something wrong? They fix it.
“We misunderstood one reader’s article. He reached out. We went back and forth and published a correction the next day. Transparency is key.”
That kind of transparency isn’t a marketing tactic. It’s culture.
Monetization Without Selling Out
You’ve likely encountered newsletters where every third line states, “brought to you by.” That’s not this.
“We write the ad copy ourselves. That way it sounds like us. The goal is not to interrupt the reader, it’s to add value in the same tone.”
They won’t run gated content. If a link leads to a download wall or a funnel, it’s most likely rejected.
“If we say ‘read more’ and it leads to a lead magnet? That’s a bad experience. We avoid it.”
That’s a bold call. And it costs them.
“We lose some deals. But we keep the trust of our readers. That’s the trade I’ll take.”
The 25% Problem
Emanuel said something during our interview that stuck with me:
“The most common reason people unsubscribe? They left the industry.”
That hits hard. And it’s not just his data. According to the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer, the bottom 25% of income earners report the lowest trust in business overall. When you factor in shrinking budgets, rising churn, and AI anxiety, you end up with a mass exit.
“You used to hang your hat on a big brand job. Now you’re lucky to have a 6-month contract.”
Marketing isn’t dead. But the way we’ve been treating it is.
The Newsletter Playbook
This isn’t a growth hack guide. It’s the real process behind Stacked Marketer. If you're serious about creating something valuable, not just scalable, this is your blueprint.
1. Start Small, But Sharp
Don’t launch. Ship a test.
“It started with a few hundred people… That was enough to keep going.”
You’re not trying to win Twitter. You’re trying to help someone who’s working in the platform today.
2. Curate With Integrity
You are not a link dump.
“We let some posts marinate. We check reactions. Comments. Then we decide if it’s worth including.”
Ask: Does this help a real marketer make a better call tomorrow? If not, cut it.
3. Monetize on Your Terms
Never rent out your voice.
“We write the ad copy ourselves. That way it sounds like us.”
And never send readers into a trap.
“If we say ‘read more’ and it leads to a lead magnet? That’s a bad experience. We avoid it.”
4. Learn From What Fails
They tried podcasting. It didn’t work. They didn’t force it.
“The skills didn’t translate. So we stopped.”
What worked? Paid ads, partner swaps, and targeted newsletters.
“We tested everything. If it worked, we doubled down. If it didn’t, we dropped it.”
5. Sell Smart
Emanuel’s pitch to early sponsors was brutally logical.
“I thought: marketers pay thousands to meet 1,000 people at an event. Why not pay a few hundred to get into a newsletter with the same people?”
That’s not persuasion. That’s positioning.
6. Scale Trust, Not Tricks
Now they’re building courses—but again, on their terms.
“We’re working with professors. And I’ll be teaching newsletter strategy myself.”
No hype. Just education from people who’ve done it.
From Affiliate Marketer to Builder of Trust
Emanuel’s story isn’t a play for attention. It’s proof of what happens when you do the work, respect the reader, and iterate with purpose.
“You don’t get there overnight. But if you keep showing up, you figure it out.”
Stacked Marketer didn’t go viral. It earned trust. Every day. And that’s what marketing needs more of now—not louder branding, but quieter integrity.
Not more funnels.
More signal.
Ready for Marketing That Respects Your Brain?
If you’re into clear thinking, sharp insights, and marketing that doesn’t make you feel gross, you should probably be reading Stacked Marketer.
It’s a free daily newsletter built for marketers doing the actual work—performance marketers, media buyers, founders, and operators who want to stay sharp without getting buried in fluff.
Real news, not press releases
Curated by people who’ve run real campaigns
Read by 90,000+ marketers who still have standards
👉 Join here: stackedmarketer.com
🧠 Get smarter before your coffee’s even finished.
MAC Compass Disclosure: Why This Article Exists, What It’s Based On, and What It’s Not
Purpose of This Piece
This article was written to spotlight how Emanuel Cinca built Stacked Marketer—not to sell a dream, but to map the reality of building trust-first marketing infrastructure from scratch. It serves as a counterpoint to the hype-loop that dominates much of the current marketing narrative.
Sources & Inputs
Direct quotes and philosophy from Emanuel Cinca via interviews and newsletter history
Public data from StackedMarketer.com and video excerpts curated from content archives
Insights from the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer
What This Is Not
A hype piece
An affiliate campaign
A growth hack recipe
A founder-glorifying origin myth
Why You Can Trust It
It diagnoses a clear problem (shiny marketing vs. useful marketing)
It makes a coherent strategic point (trust > tricks)
It aligns with what we know works (consistency, distinctiveness, audience understanding)
It does not manipulate urgency, shame, or attention addiction
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