Kai Brach at Dense Discovery just launched the DD Lounge for his Friends of DD (subscribers) and I am impressed with how he did it. I’ve been a subscriber since 2020 because I like the newsletter itself and I find Kai’s approach to the medium interesting. He built the DD Lounge himself and I’m impressed with how integrated the experience is.

Some notes:

  • The DD Lounge actions are integrated right into the newsletter and just a click away. You are automatically logged in. This comes with a tradeoff. You cannot forward your copy of Dense Discovery since it has magic links that will get into your profile. However the reduced friction is worth it in my opinion and Kai provides a way to reset your link if you do this by accident.
  • You create your profile on the Lounge and there are multiple ways to encourage connection inside the Friends of DD group. You can discover people by shared interests, location, and which issues of DD you liked the most. You can directly engage other members of the community through the “Meet” section.
  • All the while the entire experience feels calm and relaxed. The fit and finish on the user experience is impressive for a v1.0 release. Everything feels consistent from email to the web. As someone who publishes a newsletter myself, I find this incredibly difficult with any of the “off the shelf” solutions out there today.

All of that and the lowest membership fee is just $22 which is very accessible compared to nearly any other newsletter or podcast I subscribe to. Congratulations to Kai on the launch! 🎉