--- type: "article" title: "Why I’m not building another email service" newsletter: "The Weekly Shift" newsletter_handle: "franmendez" newsletter_url: "https://usecommune.com/n/franmendez" author: "Fran Mendez (@fmvilas)" published: "2026-03-20T12:00:00.000Z" canonical_url: "https://usecommune.com/n/franmendez/a/why-i-m-not-building-another-email-service" markdown_url: "https://usecommune.com/n/franmendez/a/why-i-m-not-building-another-email-service.md" chat_url: "https://usecommune.com/n/franmendez/a/why-i-m-not-building-another-email-service/chat" source_url: "https://newsletter.fmvilas.me/posts/why-i-m-not-building-another-email-service" body_source: "imported" likes: 5 replies: 5 body_words: 400 --- # Why I’m not building another email service ![The Weekly Shift](https://embed.filekitcdn.com/e/tppsnKSSV6RtcQVLeDZHT8/5nEuhXaXN7FANZ4f1qdrrM?auto=) I’ve been thinking a lot about what Commune should look like. Chatting with [Steven Willmott](https://usecommune.com/@njyx), he suggested something I never thought about: **is Commune really a Substack alternative?** I mean, Commune doesn’t send the emails. It’s not a competitor to Kit, Mailchimp, Beehiiv, Ghost, and other ESPs. Instead, it integrates all these networks. Substack is a closed network. That’s a fact. And it’s a fair business model, this is not meant to be a critique. Kit, Mailchimp, Beehiiv, Ghost, Buttondown, and MailerLite are also closed networks but they can be opened because they offer an API. This is what Commune is doing. It’s opening all these networks and glueing them together under a single place. Not only that. Commune can also become a place where people can come to learn about a given topic. Not just by consuming content but by interacting with the community around it. Becoming part of these communities. In a chat with [Mark Boyd](https://usecommune.com/@markboyd) the other day, he mentioned it would be great that Commune becomes the place where all tech journalists who write about APIs come to see what’s new and learn about it. I very much agree with this vision. Going forward, it won’t be just about APIs but actually anything. Step by step though. Starting a network-based business is not easy. You have the well-known problem of the cold start. Or the chicken-egg problem. If there’s no content in the network, why would people join to read? But, if there are no readers, why would I bother to publish my content on the network? You gotta start somewhere. I decided to start with my own network. All these lovely people who are experts in APIs and EDA. You can’t imagine how thankful I am they’ve all joined 💛 The point is that **we’re finally breaking down the walls of these closed networks**. By using APIs to join everything together, Commune becomes the layer that lets you actually own your audience and your community without being stuck in a single silo. It’s about making the whole thing open and accessible so you can focus on the content and the people, not the tech headaches of where they’re hosted. Would love to read your point of view. [![](https://embed.filekitcdn.com/e/tppsnKSSV6RtcQVLeDZHT8/iYVeBBdX9PBD4L4DZVyk1o)](https://usecommune.com/n/franmendez?article_timestamp=1774007475) Pst! I see you're not on Commune yet. [Click here to join us!](https://usecommune.com/join/09b50fa9-9457-4827-849d-3fb2c851659d)​ [![linkedin](https://functions-js.kit.com/icons?icon=linkedin&foreground=ffffff&background=153461&shape=square&v=3)​](https://linkedin.com/in/fmvilas)[![youtube](https://functions-js.kit.com/icons?icon=youtube&foreground=ffffff&background=153461&shape=square&v=3)​](https://youtube.com/@fmvilas)[![github](https://functions-js.kit.com/icons?icon=github&foreground=ffffff&background=153461&shape=square&v=3)​](https://github.com/fmvilas) Av. Joaquín Costa, 16, Badajoz, Badajoz 06001 ​[Unsubscribe](https://preview.kit-mail3.com/unsubscribe) · [Preferences](https://preview.kit-mail3.com/preferences)​ *** ## Discussion (5 replies) Numbering shows the reply tree: `2.1` is a reply to `2`. Message text is reproduced verbatim as posted. ### 1. Fran Mendez (@fmvilas) - 2026-03-20T12:04:18.549Z What's Commune for you? What do you like about it? What would you like it to become? I'm curious to see what you folks think. That helps me shape the platform. ### 2. Alex Sanchez (@alejandro) - 2026-03-20T15:27:56.030Z > Quoting Fran Mendez (@fmvilas): What's Commune for you? What do you like about it? What would you like it to become? I'm curious to see what you folks think. That helps me shape the platform. For me it's the access to conversations with people I wouldn't normally reach. I can find here top profiles in the API/EDA space, and yet the barrier to jump into a discussion with them is almost zero. That's hard to find anywhere else! ### 3. Steven Willmott (@njyx) - 2026-03-20T18:10:35.611Z Cool conversations @fmvilas. Definitely another email service doesn't make sense - but indeed the exciting part is the conversations around the posts! ### 4. Mark Boyd (@markboyd) - 2026-03-21T13:19:08.247Z Yeah as we discussed (thanks for the shoutout!) i think mass social media is on its way out and search has destroyed media discovery, so how do creators find and build their audiences? This is happening in a context overall of people getting sick of billionaires enshittification, recognition of digital sovereignty at all levels, and the search for high quality content amidst the slopocalypse. I think building trust in digital spaces, cultivating your own community and even being able to cross over to physical connections will rise up, so starting with API and EDA to encourage an interested, shared community is a great place to start. Garbage Day is an interesting newsletter to read for some of those discussions, and from a tech point of view some of what Partnership Leaders are doing is interesting although a bit too skewed towards the salesforces of the world for examples at the moment. But its early days, we are still in Gramsci's time of monsters (ugh, even i eyeroll at myself sometimes), but i love that the way you are building out Commune allows us as creators to think through and maybe even share how we are approaching community building. The old rules of social media and SEO are less relevant now, and we are all a bit jaded and wary of inauthentic digital connection. Right down to the name, Commune looks focused on trying to address that. ### 5. Fran Mendez (@fmvilas) - 2026-03-22T20:10:11.581Z @markboyd why did you mention Gramsci! Now I need to read about it haha! I'm not sure mass social media is on its way out though. I think they'll adapt too. They just need to find out how because they're also in the Gramsci's time of monsters after all.