Sam Parr (The Hustle) and Alex Lieberman (The Morning Brew) discuss building $100 million dollar newsletters

This is a great podcast because now that Sam has sold The Hustle and Alex Lee Rubén has sold the morning brew they can openly discuss financials tactics and things that they did to grow without any worry a great podcast listen.

Here is a summary of the video, broken down by year, with key insights and timestamps:

• 2015:

  • The hosts discuss the origins of their respective newsletter businesses. [00:00]

  • The Morning Brew started as a PDF to help students with business news. [03:57]

  • The HustleCon event generated $400,000 in revenue and $200,000 in profit. [05:14]

• 2016:

  • The Hustle was created as a newsletter after the host saw the success of the Skimm. [06:08]

  • Morning Brew made its first ad deal. [16:06]

  • The hosts discuss the importance of focusing on content quality. [16:19]

  • The Hustle generated $400k in revenue with 100,000 subscribers. [15:33]

  • Morning Brew made $25,000 in revenue. [16:29]

• 2017:

  • Morning Brew hired Tyler Denk, who became transformational for the company. [20:20]

  • The hosts emphasized the importance of finding undiscovered talent. [21:18]

  • The Hustle ended the year with 250,000 subscribers and $2.2 million in revenue. [19:37]

  • Morning Brew ended with 100,000 subscribers and $300,000 in revenue. [20:06]

• 2018:

  • Morning Brew grew from 100,000 to a million subscribers. [27:40]

  • The hosts discuss the importance of having an "underdog mentality". [25:44]

  • The Hustle ended the year with 500,000 subscribers and $5.1 million in revenue. [27:48]

• 2019:

  • The hosts discuss the importance of focusing on user growth. [32:34]

  • Morning Brew started to explore industry verticals. [33:52]

  • The hosts discuss the impact of the book "Traction" on their business. [36:02]

  • The Hustle generated $13.1 million in revenue and $3 million in profit. [31:53]

• 2020:

  • Both Morning Brew and The Hustle were sold. [43:40]

  • The hosts discuss the challenges of the sales process. [47:02]

  • The Hustle generated $12 million in revenue. [43:47]

• Future Opportunities & Advice:

  • The hosts discuss the future of newsletters and media. [55:25]

  • They emphasize the importance of content quality and niche focus. [56:18]

  • They suggest opportunities in quarterly/monthly hardcover magazines. [01:03:02]

  • They also suggest a media company focused on alternative investments. [01:07:06]

  • They highlight the importance of being in New York for media companies. [01:00:56]

  • They discuss the importance of having an "enemy" to motivate the company. [01:09:37]