He's been helping startups since long before he joined HN. He's built up a following of his own. He's been telling us all for a while that we can monetise a mailing list, so when he builds one and starts selling a how-to-sell-via-mail on it, we shouldn't be terribly surprised. And he didn't submit it to HN, someone else did.
Here are some of the responses:
1) It must be free.
Well, he's always telling us how to compete with free. Nothing stops us from reading the huge set of equivalent material online, but it'll cost more for anyone who values their time.
2) This is too expensive.
He's repeatedly told us that people who say this shouldn't be the focus of our marketing. Focus on the ones who have the means and ability to recognise value. Capture the consumer surplus where possible.
3) It's too cheap.
Don't worry, he'll find a way to extract the consumer surplus at some point. This is a great lead-in to consulting.
And you know what? Great. Make the money, Pat. Tell us how to do these things, and then show us in a very tangible way how it works, by convincing us to buy something. If that doesn't teach the principles, not much else will.