I collected emails for a week to gather interest in customizations while I built them out. It ended up taking way less time than expected! I launched yesterday and sent a quick email to all 16 people who subscribed.
I know the number is small but it feels good to potentially get in contact with users! It also helped me tune in on Mugshot Bot's messaging by forcing me to write a real email.
As inspired by Basecamp and Hey, I also turned off all open and click tracking. Each link has a UTM which I can track in aggregate via my analytics platform.