How I Built This with Guy Raz

Gimlet Media: Alex Blumberg and Matt Lieber

Oct 21, 2019

In this engaging conversation, Alex Blumberg and Matt Lieber, co-founders of Gimlet Media, share their journey from public radio stalwarts to podcast entrepreneurs. They discuss the triumphant yet tumultuous path of launching Gimlet, revealing the emotional rollercoaster and challenges of founding a media company. They also dive into the significance of their dream namesake and the struggles with investor pitches. Plus, hear about Casey Kerrigan’s inspiring shift from medicine to reinventing women's footwear with a focus on comfort.

01:20:03

Episode guests

Matt Lieber

Alex Blumberg

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Intro

2min

The Rise of Podcasts and the Entrepreneurial Journey of Gimlet Media

4min

Journey of Aspirations: From College to Radio

26min

Dreaming of Entrepreneurship

7min

Building a Podcasting Network: Challenges and Collaborations

17min

Navigating Early Challenges in Media Entrepreneurship

16min

Transforming Financial Stability

4min

From High Heels to Healthy Steps

6min

Alex Blumberg made his early career by helping build two of the most successful shows in radio and podcasting: Planet Money and This American Life. In 2014, convinced that podcasts could make money, he walked away from the safe umbrella of public media to start a new media company with co-founder Matt Lieber. Every doubt, triumph and humiliation of building the business was documented on the podcast Startup, which included the back-and-forth over how the company got its name: Gimlet. Many more successful podcasts followed, and five years after launch, Gimlet sold to Spotify for roughly $200 million. PLUS in our postscript "How You Built That," after years of researching how women's shoes wreak havoc on the joints, Casey Kerrigan quit her job in medicine to start 3D printing more comfortable designs: Oesh Shoes. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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