He Built a $20M Brand Without a Media Background
Moneywise
Why Brand Aura Matters for New Media
Adam argues that brand perception and trust are critical for new media companies and describes building that aura.
Stop making million-dollar decisions alone. Hampton gives you a personal board of eight vetted founders in your city who meet monthly to tackle your hardest problems. Find your group: joinhampton.com
Adam White didn’t set out to build a media company – he just wanted a job in sports. So at 19, he started posting informational interviews on a Wix site. Today, he runs a $20M brand with NFL partnerships and no background in media. Because in the end, it wasn’t about who he knew – it was about who knew him, and how he got in the right rooms by outplaying legacy media at their own game.
Here’s what we talk about:
- Building Front Office Sports out of his dorm room
- Why brand aura matters more than ever and how to create it from scratch
- The tweet that led to a $750K investment
- Why he gave up 51% of the business early – and doesn't regret it
- The role of soft touchpoints in landing major deals
- Growing to 800K newsletter subs without chasing SEO
- How an official NFL content partnership changed everything
- Diversifying revenue from newsletters, social, events, and brand partnerships
- The personal side: paying off student debt, buying his mom a car, and defining success as freedom
Cool Links:
- Hampton https://www.joinhampton.com/
- Lower Street https://www.lowerstreet.co/
- Front Office Sports https://frontofficesports.com/
- Adam White https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-white-85ab4389/
Sponsors:
- Protect your upside and get your time back at cressetcapital.com/moneywise
- Achieve your dream body with dailybodycoach.com/moneywise
- Join 700+ founders hiring A-players in Latin America at hirewithnear.com/moneywise
Chapters:
- (0:42) Building Front Office Sports: Growth & Early Days
- (1:40) Revenue Milestones
- (3:40) Building Brand Aura & Early Partnerships
- (10:34) Attracting Investors & Business Model Shift
- (13:24) Audience Growth During COVID
- (16:04) Monetization & Revenue Diversification
- (17:44) Philosophy on Investors
- (19:08) New Investors, Professionalization, & Validation
- (22:07) NFL Partnership
- (25:44) Networking Secrets
- (28:31) Personal Growth as a CEO
- (30:45) Personal Financial Journey & Mindset
- (33:40) Motivation, Competition, & Enjoying the Journey
This podcast is a ridiculous concept: high-net-worth people reveal their personal finances. Inspired by real conversations happening in the Hampton community.
Your Host: Harry Morton
- Founder of Lower Street, a podcast production company helping brands launch and grow top-tier podcasts.
- Co-parents a cow named Eliza.
The AI-powered Podcast Player
