ChinaIndia Networked

I commissioned a designer friend to design a banner for the newsletter which will act as a logo attached to the top of each issue going forward.
Its by no means a must have for a newsletter-many of the best ones that I follow (Sinocism, Exponential View) do not have one. I felt it was important because strong graphics can help make the newsletter standout visually and over time add to the brand recognition. Time will tell how much (tangible or intangible) value this generates but for now at the very least it makes me more proud of the product!

Hit this number after about 4 issues.
Twitter and Linkedin have been pretty important towards driving new signups.
I also find that adding some people manually (just about 10-15%) who I meet at conferences or workshops is a good hack towards building my community.

The advice to just launch is good but so to about sitting on your product and letting it marinate. Make small tweaks and if you're thinking about it subconsciously ideas flow. Plus it reflects you, so its important you feel confident. After about 3 weeks I felt I had what felt was my MVP and I was proud to go live!

I had been sitting on the newsletter idea for more than a year. This time I decided it was time for just got, partly inspired by a very large article on Chinese ride hailing app Didi's internal transformation between 2018-19 that I felt should be read in India.