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At beehiiv we launch dozens of new features and enhancements every single week. Our product velocity is actually probably the thing we are best known for.
Speaking of, just yesterday we launched custom mobile apps for newsletters. Each beehiiv user can now launch their very own app that their readers can install.

BDE on the home screen goes crazy tbh
We also have a pretty massive launch scheduled again for next week (see above re product velocity).
Iβve previously written about how we accomplish that (you can read it here). One of the core philosophies is that we often ship things that arenβt entirely complete and are perhaps a little rough around the edges. Thatβs intentional β it allows us to get the product into our users hands more quickly and collect real feedback.
Something along the lines of the classic startup adage: if itβs perfect, you shipped it too late.
Plus everyone knows that the last 10% always takes the longest. It requires making assumptions about how users will utilize it and second guessing earlier product decisions. Iβd much rather ship something that wasnβt fully polished and let the users tell us whatβs missing and how we can make it a homerun.
Engineers also understand the urgency of fixing issues that are live in production and impacting users. So in a way this strategy expedites go-to-market in two ways:
We ship the feature sooner because itβs not entirely finished per se.
Weβre quicker to address live feedback and bugs, reaching a better finalized product on an accelerated timeline.
And while it sounds great in theory, itβs not without tradeoffs.
Sometimes users will encounter bugs when using a new feature and lose trust in the reliability or quality of the platform. Rational or not, users are constantly judging your product as they use it. And each time you launch something new, you are increasing the odds of them finding something to fault.
As you scale your business, youβll encounter tons of instances where users behave irrationally. Itβs not that theyβre dumb or needy, itβs that theyβre busy like everyone else in the worldβ¦ and they come with their own unique set of expectations and experiences.
I think itβs important to take this into consideration when making certain product decisions. Let me explainβ¦
We recently revamped our downgrade process, and now collect a lot more data as to why someone is choosing to cancel or pause their account. Last week, I noticed a user churn quoting that they βwerenβt growing as quickly as they expected using Boosts.β
I canβt speak to their expectations, and while I wish Boosts performed better for them, itβs a feature built on network effects. The performance varies from user to user based on their budget, content niche, location, language, and a bunch of other factors.
Big Desk Energy, for example, grows about 1,000 subscribers per week via Boosts, with those subscribers averaging a 44% open rate and 9% CTR.
Translation: it works really well (for me).
But thatβs not what I find so frustrating about this. Itβs that Boosts is a totally optional and ancillary feature we chose to build to help our users grow and monetize more seamlessly. And itβs a feature that none of our competitors even offer.
The user who I referenced above:
Built an beautiful website using beehiiv.
Successfully published dozens of newsletters, averaging a 46% open rate.
Grew 3x over the past year, using several of our growth features.
Monetizes their newsletter via the beehiiv Ad Network.
Pays a fraction of what they would on another platform.
β¦but they werenβt growing as quickly as they had hoped using Boosts.
By choosing to build Boosts, we created another vector for people to judge our platform and decide how to perceive us (despite competitors not offering it at all). It doesnβt feel fair, or very rational, but itβs the reality of how people make decisions and navigate the internet.
Speaking of not feeling fairβ¦
what do people use for newsletters these days?
substack was good, but sabotaged themselves with Notes
used beehiv for Blast Beat but honestly it kind of sucked
β #LG DOUCET (#@LgDoucet)
2:34 PM β’ Jul 19, 2024
We caught a stray here and apparently βkinda suck.β So I replied and asked why, and this was his responseβ¦
damnit tyler how did you find me
hmmm. this is really weird and specific thing, but every time i would mass highlight a section to delete it in my draft, it would delete everything above it
also it was nice to embed tweets, but then i couldnt click on them until published
β #LG DOUCET (#@LgDoucet)
6:07 PM β’ Jul 19, 2024
I totally agree that thatβs an annoying experience (and definitely something we already addressed and fixed).
What a remarkably small and niche thing to jump to the conclusion that our entire platform βkinda sucks.β
You might see how both instances relate to each other. As you scale, thousands of users will navigate your product and encounter tons of experiences that will shape how they perceive it. The more things you launch, the more surface area there is to find something they donβt like.
And as you can see, the most trivial of things can be the difference between viewing your company favorably or it being a total piece of shit (allegedy).
Last week I hosted the first Big Desk Energy Mastermind in Costa Rica with 7 other incredible founders. It was a remarkable experience β Iβll write a separate post about it and share some of the most valuable insights.
first day of the @bigdeskenergy mastermind is almost in the books and itβs been epic
β’ morning surf
β’ business breakdowns
β’ afternoon yoga
β’ strategy sessions
β’ lots of good food and naturepura vida.. happy Q3 π€π½
β #Tyler Denk π (#@denk_tweets)
12:09 AM β’ Jul 19, 2024
One of the founders in attendance started an incredible SaaS company that serves a very specific purpose. Itβs growing quickly, is profitable, and overall a really tremendous product. He was discussing wanting to launch a βsocialβ component to the platform, despite it not necessarily correlating to more revenue.
My feedback was two-fold:
Every βyesβ is a βnoβ to dozens of other things. Saying βyesβ to building a social component meant saying βnoβ to several other initiatives that may be more impactful.
Social is hard, and if itβs not your core competency, itβs very possible it doesnβt succeed and becomes a stain on your product (and the perception of your product).
#2 was clearly inspired by the recent anecdotes I described above.
If they make a concerted effort to drive awareness to their social feed and it never takes off, the narrative of their perfectly functional platform could irrationally shift to βtheir social feed sucks, itβs a total deadzone.β And when youβre a startup fighting for market share, you want narrative working in your favor, not against it.
The world can be such an irrational place, so you might as well plan accordingly.
If you enjoyed this post or know someone who may find it useful, please share it with them and encourage them to subscribe: mail.bigdeskenergy.com/p/mo-features-mo-problems


Credit: Alex Weeks
Shoutout Alex for the reader submission. Finally an AI that understands the importance of multiple monitors.
Reply with your own AI generated office and Iβll feature it in an upcoming issue.

Turn on, tune in, drop out. Click on any of the tracks below to get in a groove β each selected from the full Big Desk Energy playlist.

Some of my favorite content I found on the internet this weekβ¦
Imagine having Stegosaurus money
β #Chris Bakke (#@ChrisJBakke)
1:03 AM β’ Jul 18, 2024

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