My First Million

Ariel Helwani Is Building His Own ESPN. He Already Has 1m+ Followers. He Tells Us How.

Oct 28, 2021

Ariel Helwani, renowned MMA journalist and former ESPN star, dives into his journey of independence and success in the podcasting world. He shares the decision to leave ESPN and the benefits of building a niche audience. Ariel reveals his revenue strategies and discusses the importance of engaging controversy in content creation. He emphasizes authentic connections over metrics and the significance of his Substack, showcasing how embracing uniqueness can lead to substantial growth in the digital media landscape.

01:06:36

Episode guests

Ariel Helwani

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Intro

2min

Nervous Encounters and Driving Interviews

2min

From ESPN to Independence: A Journalist's Journey

26min

Building Connections and Monetizing Content

14min

Navigating the Journey of Content Creation

19min

Therapeutic Conversations and Exclusive Subscriber Engagement

2min

Simplifying Entrepreneurship Through Modern Financial Solutions

1min

Ariel Helwani (@ArielHelwani) joins Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) and Sam Parr (@theSamParr) to discuss why he decided to leave ESPN to go independent, how he structures his business, how he decided to do MMA, why niches get riches, the power of leaning into controversy, and much more.

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Show Notes:

(05:30) - Ariel's background

(13:05) - Leaving ESPN

(20:24) - How Ariel drives revenue at his new operation

(28:50) - How Ariel originally decided to do MMA

(40:00) - Why Ariel gives away his Substack revenue

(48:05) - Audience building techniques

(58:50) - Leaning into controversy