Key lessons from building a successful email platform

After 20 years building email products, I discovered the shocking truth about technical scale: Perfect code doesn't matter. Your systems do. Here's why: At Acompli (acquired by Microsoft for $200M), we had a radical approach that transformed our development: We shipped code every single Friday. No exceptions. While competitors shipped every 4-6 weeks, we created a natural rhythm that supercharged our growth. From Friday 6PM until Monday, our remote QA team would test everything. This created a powerful dynamic: • Senior engineers could ship big changes minutes before deadline • Junior engineers could test changes for days • Everyone found their optimal workflow The magic? We never had more than 4-5 days of unreleased code. This meant fewer merge conflicts, faster bug detection, and immediate feedback. We built another game-changing system: Every support ticket went directly to engineering - not to a separate team. Our automated system routed feedback straight to the engineers who could fix it. This transformed how we viewed user feedback: • Support tickets became gifts, not burdens • Users weren't complaining - they were invested • Direct feedback accelerated improvements We obsessively tracked every micro-interaction: • Number of taps to reply to an email • Steps to create a calendar event • Actions to forward an attachment Why such detailed tracking? Because systems create clarity. When you measure something, you can improve it. When you improve it systematically, you can scale it. The results? We scaled from 3 million users to several hundred million monthly active users in just 3 years at Microsoft. Not because we wrote perfect code. But because we built perfect systems. The framework is simple but powerful: • Ship every Friday • Route feedback to engineers • Measure everything • Iterate rapidly Your bottleneck isn't your code. It's your lack of systems. Fix that first. Want to master the founder mindset and build better systems? Join Founder Mode for free weekly insights: https://lnkd.in/gSjjvzt9 Think through this step by step.

I was one of the key pieces of a startup that went from $0-40m+ in ~6 years. Here are the 12 GTM learnings I wish I knew earlier that would have allowed us to achieve that growth in half the time: 1. Think about email deliverability from day 1 – this is a dark, deep hole to get out of 2. Figure out how to get other technology vendors in your accounts on your team – even 1-2 key partners help remove friction 3. Competing against massive incumbents who can bundle their competitive offering to your product as a platform/suite sell is hard to compete against – if it feels like you are pushing a boulder up a hill, find other areas to play in 4. When in an early market – make your “nurture” program elite. This is more than marketing emails – most accounts took multiple opps before moving forward 5. Have a “not doing” list – smart new hires will eventually come to ideas that most orgs have thought of. If you decided NOT to pursue an initiative, make it known to avoid new people spending time on it 6. Have the confidence to push back to the board when you know deep down something isn’t going to work – ex: hiring super enterprise reps without a compelling offering, support structure, or relevant proof 7. The minute you realize you have a top 5% performer, you should have a retention plan to keep them paid well, constantly challenged, and around for as long as possible 8. Take performance management seriously – unfortunately getting comfortable firing people is what separates great leaders from the middle of the pack 9. Remove negativity from the organization, regardless of performance --- high optimism and low ego is contagious, but so is negativity 10. Maximizing for speed is a huge advantage – it’s hard to know what decisions and changes are going to work – focus on getting more shots on goal 11. Build a calling / hunter culture from day 1 -- it's hard to turn this on and growth channels change 12. Take revops and enablement seriously – if you think you need to hire the highest IQ, quick-on-their-feet reps to be successful, you haven’t worked with a great enablement leader or sales leader who can truly build repeatable systems. Don’t underinvest here.

We grew an email list from 0 to 500K subscribers in just 10 months. If I were starting from scratch today, here's exactly how I'd do it again: 1) Nail the Lead Magnet: The fastest way to grow your email list is by offering something valuable in exchange for an email. Think of it like this: people won't give up their email for nothing. Create something they can't ignore: a discount, exclusive content, or a tool they can’t find elsewhere. For us, offering free travel guides was a game-changer. 2) Optimize for Opt-Ins Everywhere: Your website, blog, and even social media accounts should work like opt-in machines. For example: - Add pop-ups and fly outs on key pages. - Place CTAs above the fold. - Use scroll-triggered modals when visitors are engaged. We tested endlessly, and this attention to detail paid off big. 3) Tap Into Paid Growth Early: Ads get a bad rep, but when done right, they’re a growth accelerant. We launched targeted ads promoting our lead magnet and built a funnel that turned traffic into email signups. Paid campaigns helped us scale fast while testing which offers resonated with our audience. 4) Partner with the Right People: Collaborations can grow your list faster than any single effort. Whether it’s co-branded giveaways, email swaps, or shoutouts, find brands or creators that share your target audience. A well-executed partnership will unlock exponential growth. One really unique thing we did: We bought a bunch of viral social accounts and rebranded them for our business. This was huge in kickstarting massive and sustainable growth. And we fast-tracked the social proof we needed to build trust and scale quickly. 5) Focus on Quality, Not Just Quantity: A big list is meaningless without engagement. From Day 1, we focused on high-value emails to ensure subscribers opened, clicked, and stayed. Here’s a pro tip: Consistency wins. Sending emails weekly or bi-weekly keeps your list warm and engaged. 6) Build a Content Machine: Pair email growth with an organic content strategy that feeds your funnel. Blog posts, social media, and SEO aren’t just good for traffic—they create trust. The more valuable content you share, the more people will want to hear from you. 7) Leverage Cheap Marketing Channels in Ways Others Haven’t: This is going to ruffle some feathers but we absolutely dominated cold email for user acquisition. To the tune of 6 figure subscriber acquisition. No one was doing cold email for B2C the way we did it. This proved to be the most scalable yet cheapest acquisition channel we had. — To recap: - Offer something valuable for free to grow your list. - Use every channel—paid and organic—to drive opt-ins. - Build relationships with partners who already have your audience. The result? A system that scales. Your list is the one asset you fully own—start building it ASAP!