I Blew Up Your Inbox on Purpose

I didn’t dip a toe in. I dove in headfirst.

Standard advice says to “warm up” an audience.

Tease the launch.

Build a waitlist. Then, gently send one welcome email.

I didn’t do that.

On Saturday night, I flipped the switch on VengaDragon and published five posts in 15 minutes. I went from an empty page to a fully stocked digital magazine in the time it takes to drink a coffee.

Why? Because I wanted to treat this project like a startup, not a hobby. And startups don’t open their doors with empty shelves.

Here is exactly what happened in the first 48 hours.

The Raw Numbers

I am building this in public, which means I share the data even when it’s small. Everyone starts at zero. Here is where we are today.

  • Total Subscribers: 15

  • Total Views (Launch Weekend): 68

  • Average Open Rate: 56.6%

  • Top Performing Column: Venga!

The Strategy: “The Bombardment”

You might be wondering why I flooded your inbox on Saturday.

If I had launched with just one post about AI, you might have thought, “Oh, Mark is writing an AI newsletter.” If I had launched with just one post about Tech, you might have thought, “This is a gadget review site.”

By launching Sentient, Scale, The Forge, and The Hoard simultaneously, I established the “Architecture.”

I proved immediately that this is a Magazine.

Now, when you see a post from me, you know it fits into a specific slot. You know you can opt-out of the ones you don’t like without leaving the ecosystem.

The Lesson: Avoid “The Empty Nightclub Effect”

Nobody wants to be the first one on the dance floor. Back in my days of youthful badassness, I owned a nightclub and made crowds wait outside on purpose. We only let a core group of VIPs in early to set the vibe before opening the floodgates. Trust me when I say this same philosophy applies to what we are building.

Here’s your actionable takeaway:

Never
invite people
to an empty party.

If a new reader lands on your Substack and sees only one “Welcome” post, they have to imagine the value you might provide in the future. That is a hard sell.

But if they land on the site and see 5 distinct articles, an AI tutorial, a tech review, a business breakdown, they can binge.

  • Bingeing creates investment.

  • Investment creates retention.

  • Value is the filter for attention. – Roberto Blake

My strategy was to “Front-Load” the value. I did 5 weeks of writing in 3 days so that on Day 1, this place looked like it had been here for months.

The Actionable Advice: Don’t hit publish on your first post until you have your second, third, and fourth posts ready to go immediately behind it. Stock the shelves before you open the doors.

The Plan for Week 1

The launch party is over. Now the work begins.

My goal for December is Consistency. I am treating this as a full-time job. Here is what you can expect this week:

The Vengabus is coming.

Built from Zero

I am building this magazine in public. I share the raw numbers, the strategy, and the mistakes, no filters.

Get on the list. The dance floor is open.

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Venga!

Mark (VengaDragon)