Tell us a bit about yourself and your background.

I'm originally from Barletta in Puglia, the region in southern Italy, famous for its beaches, olive oil, and mozzarella, but I've also lived in Bologna and for the past 17 years in London. I am a geek and worked for a long time in IT, but in the past decade I've mostly focused on data in the UK public sector, working for central government departments, and the national health service.

What do you write about in your newsletter?

I write about anything related to data, even loosely. Data-powered stories, data-driven services, tools, and tutorials that could benefit anyone trying to wrangle through data or visualize it. Recently, I've added a section about AI, usually linking to articles that offer a critique of AI from an ethical or operational point of view.

I became curious, tried it, and I felt it was as close as possible to self-hosting without all the overhead. It was love at first sight.

Where did you first learn of Buttondown, and what made you decide to give it a try?

I've been sending my newsletter since 2012, and I've tried a few platforms. At one point, I decided I wanted to try to self-host to have full control, but a friend, whose newsletter I read, had moved to Buttondown. I became curious, tried it, and I felt it was as close as possible to self-hosting without all the overhead. It was love at first sight. I officially made the move in 2021 and haven't looked back.

[Buttondown has] made my workflow much simpler.

What are some ways Buttondown has helped you run your email?

It's made my workflow much simpler. I love the simple copy and paste image upload, for example. Managing subscribers is easy; getting exports is also simple. And in those rare times when there has been a problem, the support team and Justin have been great. I also had a 1-2-1 call with Justin in the early days, and it was refreshing to see that much care from a founder.