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

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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

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