Ryan Gilbert - How to master the art of building and scaling curation newsletters!

Oct 23, 2024

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👉🏼 About the Guest:

Ryan Gilbert is the founder of Workspaces, a newsletter with nearly 14K subscribers, $2K MRR, and 45K subscribers on Twitter, all about the desks of creatives around the world, born during the pandemic. Workspaces was acquired by Loops in 2022, where Ryan was Head of Content, and re-acquired by Ryan for $1 in 2024. He has also worked at Product Hunt and has a new newsletter all about the best headlines across the internet, named H1 Gallery.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product Shoutout generated $30k ARR, which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 24,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. He recently sold his second SaaS product, GuestLab, and he is working on a startup idea while hosting this show.

👉🏼 Sponsor Corner:

Shoutout to Acquire.com for sponsoring The Undefeated Underdogs podcast! They’re the best online marketplace to buy/sell startups and I know many founders who have sold their businesses there. If you're looking to wind down your business and cash in some of your founder chips, check them out - https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Description:

Listen in as Sharath and Ryan discuss side projects, building a personal brand, curation vs creation, and more!

👉🏼 Timestamps:

00:00: Episode Highlight
00:38: Shoutout to Acquire.com
03:06: Introduction to Ryan Gilbert - founder of Workspaces
04:41: Curation vs creation and how they're similar
06:35: How to develop taste
11:00: How to build a narrative around your taste
12:02: Current untapped content trends
15:58: The beginning of Workspaces
21:02: How side projects can change your life
22:25: Tactics for growing a newsletter 0 to 1
24:30: Experiments that didn't work for Workspaces
26:47: Improvements that Ryan is planning for Workspaces
28:38: Why sponsorships are harder now
32:08: Running experiments for sponsors
36:52: Ryan's content strategy at Loops - the email platform for SaaS
39:16: Low-cost content tips
40:47: Building a content strategy in 2024
43:54: Current trends people should pay attention to
44:46: How founders can build a personal brand
46:54: Ryan's experience as a new dad
49:46: Outro and closing thoughts

👉🏼 Resources:

Link to Acquire.com: https://try.acquire.com/sharath/

👉🏼 Where to find Ryan:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rjgilbert
Website: https://www.workspaces.xyz/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryang1lbert/

👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
Website: https://5harath.com/
Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/
Founder Gigs: https://foundergigs.com/