Agree - this tracks with my experience. I have two Substacks - one I started with zero subscribers - it has grown - I had 3-5 subs a week. The other I started from a list of a blog I run - and it grows FAST - The existing subs push it out and I had 2 or more subs a day, plus sometimes have big jumps when articles hit a particular nerve. So, yes, you can start and grow a Substack with no subscribers - but it takes a LOT of work to build it up.