Substack: No-Code Platform?

Publishing platforms like Wordpress and Substack were never hyped as no-code tools. But should they be?

As you read this post, know that a lot of code is running and being deployed to suit my requirements. I don’t have to think about that code, and I can even embed a poll widget or a paywall by simply clicking. This adds more background code to my solution, but I needn’t spend a moment of effort thinking about it.

This is the promise of no-code apps. We can build whatever we desire (within the confines of the tool) and use it instantly. Or my many subscribers can benefit from it.

As a near-fifty-year coder, I’ve always been cautious about the no-code movement. Low-code seemed more rational, if not ironic, but no-code didn’t seem ready for primetime in 2017, and not much has changed since then.

Generative AI offers similar attributes - it can generate code, debug itself, and even run it for you. Precision and accuracy aside, it’s moving toward the no-code segment and will soon appear on the same stage. Soon, we will see AI used to create solutions in no-code platforms like Coda and Airtable. You’ll describe your desired app and it will create the document or base and build all of the features perceived by the AI based on your guidance.

Attention Economy

Substack’s attraction is to provide a pathway from the attention economy to the pay attention economy. This is a double entendre.

1. Writers should have a streamlined way to write something worth reading about, and readers should have a streamlined way to read something worth writing about.

2. The ad-driven business model of the attention economy has created a morass of information fragments that exist only for clicks. The time has come for content consumers to pay for the privilege of closely associating with people who create worthy information.

Substack addresses each of these points, which are deeply aligned with “worth”.

The “Pay Attention Economy” is all about worth. Free market forces will determine worth.

Privatized Social Media

Imagine using Substack for private social media or even knowledge management. I first envisioned it with this earlier post.

I came to my senses and realized the opportunity to leverage Substack to sole discrete business requirements without writing any code. Then I created two experiments - one for memorializing internal knowledge at Stream It, and another for CyberLandr customers who are invited behind the velvet rope when they place a reservation (Inside CyberLandr). Inside CyberLandr is free to anyone who wants to follow the progress of the disappearing “camper”, but it’s ideal for Cybertruck fans.

These experiments were built, tested, and launched on the same day. Substack’s “no-code” features made this a possibility.

The internal Substack for knowledge and tech stories that are meaningful to our team was created to sustain a high level of awareness across our R&D and product teams. It has become a simple and effective way to capture knowledge and share it in a delightful way, all while avoiding corporate amnesia.

Abundant Possibilities

This post was inspired by a single idea -

What if you created a business around the development, production, and servicing of internal corporate Substacks for specific audiences?

Substack is wonderful for the usual and customary use case — writing newsletters. But this is a no-code stallion waiting patiently for the next race, and there will be many.