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Build Phases

The roadmap from educational platform to full ESP, broken into sequential phases.

Phase 0: Foundation ✅​

BETA v0.1.4

What was built:

  • Educational platform (Developer + Marketing + Coding 101 courses)
  • AI Playground (Claude + RAG + Pinecone)
  • Multi-client Render Simulator
  • Sandbox editor with live preview
  • Portfolio showcase with iOS Mail simulator
  • Token economy (signup, course, referral rewards)
  • Referral program with unique share links
  • User auth (email, Google OAuth, magic link)
  • Station admin dashboard
  • Kinetic tracking database (Convex)
  • SEO + pre-rendering + Schema.org
  • Resend integration for test sends

What this proved: People can learn kinetic email, generate emails with AI, preview across clients, and send test emails. The core creation experience works.

Phase 1: Workspace & Persistence ✅​

BETA v0.2.0 → v0.3.0

Goal: Users can save, organize, and manage their email work.

  • ✅ Save emails from Playground to Workspace
  • ✅ Projects — group emails under campaigns
  • ✅ Version history on saved emails
  • ✅ Re-open saved emails in editor
  • ✅ Workspace dashboard (recent emails, projects, usage stats)
  • ✅ Brand profiles with colors, fonts, tone, logo, business context
  • ✅ Brand design tokens — extract and lock design system from generated emails
  • ✅ Brand images — upload reusable assets tied to a brand
  • ✅ Saved sections — save reusable HTML sections (header/footer/hero/cta) with CSS, linked to brands
  • ✅ Image upload in Playground — drag-and-drop with names and descriptions
  • ✅ Playwright e2e testing (13 tests)
  • ✅ Claude model upgrade to Sonnet 4.6

What this unlocked: Stickiness. Users come back because their work, brand identity, and reusable assets live here.

Phase 2: View in Browser & Send Infrastructure ✅​

BETA v0.3.0

Goal: Every email sent through kinetic.email gets a hosted web version and full send tracking.

  • ✅ Hosted email pages (kinetic.email/view/{sendId})
  • ✅ View-in-browser link auto-generated in every email via {{VIB_URL}}
  • ✅ Survey/quiz fallback CTA linking to hosted page for non-kinetic clients
  • ✅ View-in-browser tracking event logged on page open
  • ✅ Send tracking (delivered, opened, clicked) via Convex
  • ✅ Bounce handling and suppression lists (Mailgun, Resend, SES webhooks)
  • 📋 Personalization token system (merge tags: {{name}}, {{company}}) — deferred to Phase 3
  • 📋 Unsubscribe link management — partially implemented (global unsubscribe exists)

What this unlocked: We're no longer just generating emails — we're delivering them, hosting them, and tracking results.

Phase 3: Contact Management​

Know who you're sending to

Goal: Users can manage their contact lists, segment audiences, and personalize at scale.

  • Contact import (CSV, manual entry)
  • Contact profiles (name, email, custom fields)
  • Lists and segments with a rules-based segment builder
  • Contact activity history (sends, opens, clicks)
  • GDPR consent tracking and data export/deletion

What this unlocks: Personalization at scale. This is where "email tool" becomes "email marketing."

Phase 4: Campaign Builder​

Send to many, not just one

Goal: Full campaign creation, scheduling, and delivery to contact lists.

  • Campaign creation wizard (select email → audience → schedule)
  • Send now or schedule for later
  • A/B testing (subject line, content, send time)
  • Campaign analytics dashboard
  • Per-recipient personalization (merge tags resolved per contact)

What this unlocks: Real email marketing. This directly competes with Mailchimp's core offering.

Phase 5: Automation & Drip Campaigns​

Emails that send themselves

Goal: Visual automation builder for triggered email sequences.

  • Visual flow builder (drag-and-drop nodes)
  • Triggers: signup, tag added, date-based, link clicked, email opened, custom event
  • Actions: send email, wait, add tag, update field, split test
  • Pre-built recipes (welcome series, onboarding, re-engagement, abandoned cart)

What this unlocks: Lifecycle marketing — competing with Marketo and HubSpot automation engines, but with AI-generated kinetic emails in every node.

Phase 6: Drag-and-Drop Email Builder​

For people who don't want to write code or use AI

  • Block-based editor (text, image, button, divider, columns)
  • Kinetic blocks (tabs, accordion, carousel, survey, lightswitch)
  • "Enhance with AI" button on any block
  • Import from Playground (AI-generated → drag-and-drop for refinement)

Why this comes later: AI generation is our moat. Lead with what's different, add what's expected once we have traction.

Phase 7: Deliverability & Sending Infrastructure​

Own the pipe, not just the product

  • Dedicated IP addresses (per-customer at scale)
  • Domain authentication wizard (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
  • Deliverability dashboard (inbox placement, spam rates, blacklist monitoring)
  • Evaluate: build on SES vs. maintain Resend vs. hybrid

Phase 8: Analytics & Reporting​

Data that drives decisions

  • Campaign performance dashboards
  • Kinetic interaction analytics (which tabs clicked, carousel slides viewed, survey responses)
  • Revenue attribution (e-commerce integrations)
  • Custom report builder

Unique angle: No ESP tracks kinetic interactions. We can show "42% of recipients interacted with the carousel" — analytics no one else can offer.

Phase 9: Integrations & API​

Play nice with everything else

  • REST API for all platform actions
  • Webhooks (real-time event notifications)
  • Zapier / Make integration
  • Shopify, WordPress, CRM integrations

Current Status​

PhaseStatus
Phase 0: Foundation✅ Complete
Phase 1: Workspace🟡 In Progress
Phase 2: View in Browser📋 Planned
Phase 3: Contacts📋 Planned
Phase 4: Campaigns📋 Planned
Phase 5: Automation📋 Planned
Phase 6: Drag & Drop Builder📋 Planned
Phase 7: Deliverability📋 Planned
Phase 8: Analytics📋 Planned
Phase 9: Integrations📋 Planned