Alex Lieberman, Morning Brew // Building A Digital Media Empire, Growth Playbooks + A $75mil Sale - a podcast by Bilal Zaidi

from 2021-03-25T02:18:16

:: ::

Alex Lieberman is the co-founder & CEO of Morning Brew. They're a leading new media startup with over 2.7mil newsletter subscribers, making them one of the largest daily newsletters around.

Alex & his co-founder sold a majority stake in the business to Insider Inc for a reported $75mil in Oct 2020.

After listening to this conversation, you'll understand:

  • growing from a newsletter to a full-on media business
  • 3 step audience funnel: rented, owned + monetized
  • hub + spoke model
  • how they got their first 1000 subscribers by doing things that don't scale
  • growth stages: from 1k to 10k, 100k and 1mil+ subscribers
  • how to grow through email swaps, paid ads + partnerships
  • a framework to reinvent old formats like Shark Tank or QVC

Let us know what you think on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/bzaidi
https://twitter.com/businessbarista

Watch with visuals referenced on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/12KYBLPvEIg

Timestamps:

  • 0:00:00 - Preview + What You’ll Learn
  • 0:02:17 - Sponsor Break
  • 0:03:08 - Interview Start
  • 0:03:44 - Grandma Likes Morning Brew
  • 0:04:59 - Growing From Newsletter To Media Brand
  • 0:07:23 - Acquired For Reported $75mil By Insider Inc
  • 0:08:21 - Scale of Morning Brew: 2.7mil subscribers
  • 0:11:28 - Audience Building Done Well
  • 0:14:02 - Audience Funnel: Rented, Owned, Monetized
  • 0:17:39 - “Who Is This NOT For?”
  • 0:21:47 - Audience ≠ Distribution
  • 0:25:25 - Unwritten Contract With An Audience
  • 0:26:27 - Focus vs Breadth of Interests
  • 0:29:05 - Ask Yourself Why 3x
  • 0:33:14 - Hub & Spoke Model For Audience
  • 0:38:23 - Getting First 1000 Subscribers + Growing Through Referrals
  • 0:41:10 - Stages of Growth From 1k to 100k to 1mil
  • 0:43:42 - When To Grow Through Paid Ads
  • 0:47:20 - Growing Through E-Mail Swaps + Paid Ads
  • 0:49:28 - Programmatic E-Mail Ads
  • 0:50:43 - Snapchat Ads, YouTube Influencers + Channels That Worked
  • 0:53:23 - Cross Promotion + Strategic Partnerships
  • 0:55:59 - Signals Of Consumer Intent From E-Mail Clicks
  • 1:00:13 - Multimedia + How To Grow A Podcast
  • 1:02:11 - Re-Inventing What Worked In Legacy Media Business
  • 1:05:05 - Macro + Micro Of Promotion
  • 1:08:07 - 3 Types Of Content That Work Well For Podcast
  • 1:08:38 - Timely News Hooks
  • 1:10:26 - Evergreen “Service Content” - Solve Problem or Passion
  • 1:13:35 - Vulnerable Content + Imposter Syndrome
  • 1:19:04 - Future Of Monetization
  • 1:24:14 - Talent vs Learned Skill
  • 1:26:00 - Jay-Z, Mr. Beast + Ownership
  • 1:30:03 - Building A Writing Habit + Ship 30 For 30
  • 1:32:13 - Accountability
  • 1:35:11 - Business Idea: Shark Tank For The Digital Age
  • 1:39:09 - Re-inventing old formats: QVC + who wants to be a millionaire
  • 1:42:51 - Dealing With Bad Times + His Dad’s Loss
  • 1:48:01 - Survivor Guilt

Thank you to our sponsors:

Space - the easiest way to engage your team over audio:
http://www.JoinSpace.co

Micro Acquire - the largest startup acquisition marketplace, join 50k+ others and buy or sell your startup:
http://www.microacquire.com

Further episodes of Creator Lab - interviews with entrepreneurs and startup founders

Further podcasts by Bilal Zaidi

Website of Bilal Zaidi