Milk Road Marketing Playbook: How a Crypto Newsletter Hit a 7-Figure Exit in Just 10 Months

In early 2022, Shaan Puri and Ben Levy launched Milk Road with a bold idea: make crypto digestible for the average reader, and scale faster than anyone had done before.

What started as a cold Twitter DM and a Canva-made logo became one of the fastest-growing newsletters in the crypto space.

This is the story of how they built, scaled, and sold a media company in under a year.

It All Started With a Cold DM and a $2,000 Domain

Ben Levy reached out to Tyler Denk, CEO of Beehiiv, in late December 2021 to discuss launching a crypto newsletter.

By early January, the idea took shape. With no subscribers, content, or brand—just a vision—they purchased the domain MilkRoad.com for $2,000 and began building on Beehiiv.

The name "Milk Road" was a cheeky homage to the Silk Road—the infamous online drug marketplace that was shut down by U.S. authorities.

This might be the baddest domain names ever.

The mission was simple: make crypto approachable and entertaining, like hearing updates from a smart friend.

Growth Blueprint Inspired by Morning Brew and The Hustle

Shaan Puri, co-host of "My First Million" and former collaborator with Sam Parr (founder of The Hustle), leaned on a proven playbook.

They focused on three pillars: high-quality content, aggressive paid acquisition, and a simple, effective referral engine.

Their early roadmap was clear—write engaging content, make it easy to share, and scale through paid channels.

At the same time, newsletters were going through a renaissance.

Platforms like Beehiiv and Substack had lowered the barrier to entry, and dozens of creators were spinning up newsletters daily—but few executed with the focus and speed Milk Road achieved.

Crypto was also booming in late 2021-early 2022.

Visual Identity That Stood Out in Crowded Inboxes

Most newsletters blend into inboxes. Milk Road chose to stand out.

Using Beehiiv's no-code design tools, they created a layout with a blue border and a playful milk-carton mascot.

This unique branding boosted open rates and made their emails instantly recognizable.

A Lightweight Website That Ranked on Google Instantly

Milk Road didn’t invest in expensive engineering. Instead, they used Beehiiv’s hosted web builder.

It came SEO-optimized and allowed them to rank for crypto news queries fast. In just a few months, they captured over 175,000 organic impressions and 50,000+ non-branded clicks.

Their daily recaps were not only great for subscribers but also a traffic engine.

Timing also played a huge role. In early 2022, interest in crypto remained strong coming out of the 2021 bull market.

People were eager for clarity in a noisy space, and Milk Road positioned itself as the go-to guide.

The Referral Program That Converted With Just One Reward

Instead of swag-heavy programs like Morning Brew, they offered one simple digital good.

Readers who referred one subscriber received a PDF: "What 12 Crypto Whales Are Betting On."

The incentive was low-effort, zero-cost, and highly effective—automated and frictionless.

This model was elegant in its simplicity: digital rewards scale infinitely, and automation kept operations lean.

Paid Ads That Brought in 150,000+ Subscribers Under $1.30

Milk Road allocated $180,750 to Facebook ads alone, driving over 150,000 subscribers.

Their average cost per acquisition was $1.205, a result of intense creative testing.

They discovered two ad types worked best: meme ads and social proof ads. TikTok also played a growing role.

They prioritized a short payback period (3 months or less), ensuring subscriber LTV justified ad spend quickly.

Viral Tactics, Public Bets, and Bold Transparency

To spark buzz, the founders deposited $1 million into a public wallet so readers could track it live.

Even as it lost 70% in value, it drove more attention. They leaned into crypto’s chaos, and it paid off.

Crazy stunts like this made the brand unforgettable.

The move also reinforced a core ethos of Web3—transparency.

Polls That Created Real-Time Feedback and Higher Engagement

Reader interaction became part of the product. Each newsletter ended with a quick poll.

Responses helped the team tailor content, test ideas, and feature highlights from past reader votes.

It made the newsletter feel like a conversation, not a broadcast.

Over time, these feedback loops helped refine tone, segment content, and improve reader satisfaction.

Analytics That Prioritized Subscriber Quality Over Cheap Clicks

Milk Road didn’t just look at CPA. They analyzed engagement and unsubscribe rates per channel.

In one cohort, TikTok traffic had higher open rates and lower unsubscribes than Facebook.

They used this data to double down on quality traffic—not just the cheapest clicks.

This insight-driven growth strategy mirrored what top e-commerce teams do: optimize for LTV, not clicks.

250,000 Subscribers in 10 Months With a 45% Open Rate

By the end of 2022, Milk Road had crossed 250,000 subscribers. The open rate was an impressive 45%.

They monetized through newsletter sponsorships, and Beehiiv helped them scale without needing a technical team.

A lean team, sharp systems, and an obsessive focus on value drove massive reach.

Crypto was still culturally hot, and people were actively seeking digestible updates amid the bear market confusion.

Bitfo Acquires Milk Road in a Quiet 8-Figure Deal

Shaan Puri casually asked Ben Levy one day what he’d sell Milk Road for.

That same week, Bitfo—owner of EthereumPrice.org and BitcoinPrice.com—reached out about a partnership.

It quickly escalated into acquisition talks. By December 2022, the deal closed. Though the price wasn’t disclosed, investors estimate it was in the 8-figure range.

Shaan Puri joined Bitfo’s board while Ben Levy continued running the newsletter.

Bitfo saw Milk Road not only as a content brand, but a top-of-funnel machine for its crypto properties.

Milk Road didn’t reinvent the wheel. They applied known playbooks with precision.

Their success came from relentless execution, smart tooling, and daily experimentation.

They launched in the golden window of newsletter and crypto hype, but capitalized because they shipped fast and stayed focused.

It’s a reminder that sometimes speed is all you need.

Hat Tip to Lisa Rowan, Tyler Denk, Matthew McGarry for covering the Milk Road story.

Top Tweets of the day

1/

Interesting for sellers on Amazon.

2/

When you have a $15k offer, you only need ~2667 customers to make $4M per year. This is easy in finance space since value is tangible. The closer you are to money, the more money you make.

3/

Great sneak-peek behind the marketing experiments of Senja which is at $70k MRR. Not too bad for a single-feature tool.

This shows you have to try 20 different things in marketing that you think will work but only 1 of them ever will work as you imagined. Its a volume game.

Rabbit Holes

1. A 3-step AI coding workflow for solo founders | Ryan Carson (5x founder) by How I AI

2. Ryan Carson and the Complete History of Treehouse by Ryan Carson

3. Where's your bad writing? by Tim Stodz

What’d ya think of today’s newsletter? Hit ‘reply’ and let me know.

Do me a favor and share it in your company's Slack #marketing channel.

First time? Subscribe.

Follow me on X.

More Startup Spells 🪄

1. Instantly AI Marketing Playbook: The Cold Email SaaS That Hit $5M ARR in 12 Months (LINK)

2. The Bullseye Framework (LINK)

3. This ASO Hack Got 8,900 Installs & 600+ Ratings in 2 Days for an iOS App (LINK)

4. Insider Heist at Big Tech (LINK)