Building a Newsletter in public: Here’s What We’ve Learned

We’ve been building Idea TBD in public - a weekly drop where we share raw product ideas, highlight early-stage tools, and experiment with building a community around curiosity and creativity.

It’s scrappy. It’s messy. It’s ours.

Here’s what we’ve learned so far 👇

🚧 Substack ≠ Traction

We started on Substack, but it never quite clicked. Felt like shouting into the void.

We deleted our account and focused on what was working:

Product Hunt → Real reach, real feedback

X → Still small, but steady growth and genuine interactions

📬 The Best Feedback is Real-Time

This isn’t just a newsletter - it’s a loop.

Creators share → readers test → we relay insights → everyone wins.
Seems to be working.

💸 Money Spent So Far

$11 on a domain

$7 on X Premium

$10 on a failed post promotion 😅

Early marketing lessons? Priceless.

📈 What’s Working

Product Hunt is by far our best organic channel.

X is slow—but we doubled followers (7 → 12, huge vibes only)

Writing > shouting. Real talk > polished pitch.

🧠 Strategy Going Forward

Keep sharing useful ideas and underrated tools

Keep experimenting with how feedback loops can help builders

Grow our base through trust, not gimmicks

Maybe some guerrilla marketing (QR shirts?? cryptic billboards??)

TL;DR

It’s early. It’s fun. It’s a long game.

If you’re building a newsletter, we’d love to hear what’s worked for you, and what hasn’t. Drop links, lessons, or roast our $10 ad campaign 😂

And if you’re curious what we’re up to, you can check it out at Idea TBD