A year ago, I wrote one post on Substack and then disappeared.
I didn’t get it. I published once, watched nothing happen, and walked away. For months the account just sat there, dead. I’d convinced myself Substack wasn’t for someone like me, a finance guy writing about AI research workflows, not exactly the usual Substack fare.
Then around August last year, I started doing something different. I stopped trying to publish and just started reading. And slowly it clicked, what Substack actually was, and what it could be if I took it seriously.
On 21 November, I wrote my first real newsletter under Alpha with AI, the publishing arm of Shikshan Nivesh, my AI consultancy for finance professionals. Practical, no-bullshit workflows for analysts and investors. Many of them pulled straight from real client work. By February I was writing notes too, finding the rhythm. And somewhere in the last three months, it stopped feeling like an experiment.
Why now
Here’s the thing I didn’t fully expect.
What started as a giveaway turned into something I take seriously. Over the last three months especially, the workflows have gotten sharper, more practical, pulled from actual problems I’m solving in client work. And they take real time to build properly. A single workflow worth publishing is hours of testing, refining, and writing, not a quick post.
For over six months, all of it has been free. Every workflow, every framework, every prompt. I don’t regret that for a second, it’s what built this, and it’s what got us close to 5,000 readers.
But I’ve reached a point where I can see what this could be if I gave it everything. Two, three times the depth. Better, more rigorous work. And to do that properly, it needs to be supported.
So as we approach 5,000 readers, I’m making Alpha with AI a premium newsletter. Not to put up a wall, but to build something better behind it.
What you get
If you become a member, here’s what opens up.
First, the archive. Six months of workflows, frameworks, and prompts, the entire library, in one place. Insider trade analysis, capital rotation diagnostics, the Claude Code research stack, the Obsidian layer that ties it together. Everything I’ve published, ready to read the moment you’re in.
Second, everything new. Every workflow I publish going forward lands in your inbox, the full version, no paywall cutting it short. And going premium is exactly what lets me make those deeper and more rigorous than what came before.
There’s also a second door. The Alpha with AI Club on our website is a fuller membership: it includes the newsletter and archive, plus exclusive extras, future masterclass access, downloadable workflow and skill files, and the community itself. If you want the whole ecosystem and not just the reading, that’s the one. For pure reading, though, Substack stays the cleanest experience.
This was always built for one kind of person: the analyst or investor who wants to actually work with AI, not just read about it. If that’s you, the whole thing is now yours to use.
The launch offer
Here’s the part for anyone who’s been reading and wants in.
For the next two weeks, until 8 June, you can join at 25% off your first year. It’s my way of thanking the people who showed up early, before there was ever a paywall.
Prices show in your own local currency automatically, so you’ll see a familiar number at checkout. As a rough guide, membership works out to around $39 a month or $345 a year, with the launch discount bringing the first year down to about $260.
If you’ve found these workflows useful, this is the moment. The offer closes on 8 June, and after that it’s full price.
Thank you, genuinely
I started this a year ago not knowing if anyone would read it. Now we’re almost at 5,000.
Whatever you decide, paid or free, I’m grateful you’re here. The free editions and the notes aren’t going anywhere, and I’ll keep showing up either way. Going premium just lets me make the work better for the people who want to go deeper.
If you’ve gotten something out of these workflows, the simplest way to support what comes next is to share them. Forward this to one person who’d find it useful, or pass along a post that helped you. That’s how this got to 5,000 in the first place.
More soon. The best work is still ahead.
- Shubham
🧰 Free and Premium Resources from Shikshan Nivesh
If you want the frameworks, prompts, and workflows I use across my research stack, free and paid, they alternatively also live on my website: shikshannivesh.com. The industry research playbook, the $100K Research Framework, the Kill Report prompt, and more. Everything built for analysts and investors who’d rather spend their time thinking than clicking.
🤝 Help Us Grow This Circle
Thank you for reading and supporting Alpha with AI. If you share this edition with even one person who might find it valuable, it means the world to us and helps this project reach those who need it most.
At Shikshan Nivesh, our goal is simple, to make financial research faster, smarter, and more accessible.
We believe investing should start with understanding and every newsletter we write is built to reflect that.
Written by Shubham Borkar | Research & Insights by Shikshan Nivesh AI Team
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