How Tyler Denk Took Beehiiv from 0 to $750,000/month in 2.5 Years
Oct 25, 2023
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Tyler Denk, co-founder of Beehiiv, discusses how he took the newsletter platform from 0 to $750,000/month in 2.5 years. They talk about surviving rejection, financial advice, and the economics of obesity. They also discuss building a strong early team, maintaining communication in a remote team, and understanding motivation and ambition.
The podcast episode explains the three different types of episodes in the Founders Journal podcast: diary-style episodes, tactics-focused episodes, and interview-style episodes, which were established after testing different content formats to make the show more valuable for the audience.
Tyler Denk shares insights on his career journey, the key drivers behind Beehiiv's growth, and the evolution of his role as co-founder and CEO.
Beehiiv's revenue streams are primarily through its software-as-a-service (SaaS) model and the launch of the Beehiiv Ad Network, aiming to become the largest ad network for newsletters.
Hiring a skilled and dedicated team with a strong design mindset, promoting ownership mentality, and establishing personal connections with users played crucial roles in Beehiiv's success.
Deep dives
The Structure of Founders Journal
The podcast episode explains the three different types of episodes in the Founders Journal podcast: diary-style episodes from the host reflecting on his week as an entrepreneur, tactics-focused episodes with guest experts, and interview-style episodes with successful entrepreneurs. This structure was established after testing different content formats to make the show more valuable for the audience.
Interview with Tyler Dink
The episode features an interview with Tyler Dink, the co-founder and CEO of Beehive, a rapidly growing newsletter platform. Tyler shares insights on his career journey, including his college startup and experience at Morning Brew. He also discusses the key drivers behind Beehive's growth, such as early product decisions, product drops, and building a strong remote culture. Tyler also reflects on his personal growth as a founder and the evolution of his role.
Monetization and the Beehive Ad Network
The episode highlights Beehive's revenue streams, primarily through its software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. They offer affordable plans based on subscriber count. The podcast also discusses the launch of the Beehive Ad Network, aiming to become the largest ad network for newsletters. By leveraging first-party data and targeting specific audience demographics, Beehive offers premium advertising opportunities to newsletters, creating a symbiotic relationship between advertisers and newsletters for monetization.
Building a Talented Team at Beehive
The episode reveals the importance of hiring a skilled and dedicated team to build a successful startup. Beehive focused on hiring full-stack engineers who had a strong design mindset, allowing for more efficient development. The team recognized the value of hiring employees with an ownership mentality and provided them with equity in the company. By carefully selecting team members who aligned with the startup's vision and values, Beehive was able to scale effectively.
Building in Public and Personal Connection
Building in public and establishing a personal connection with users were intentional strategies for the success of Beehive. Sharing the company's story and engaging with early users through direct messaging and social media helped attract users and build trust. Emphasizing personal interaction and addressing user pain points helped differentiate Beehive from competitors. The early scrappiness and responsiveness to user feedback played a crucial role in building trust and establishing a narrative around the brand's success.
Continuous Product Improvement and Marketing Blitz
Beehive maintains a rapid product cadence by following a quarterly roadmap that includes planned features and allows for feedback-driven improvements. Launching new features regularly became a key narrative for Beehive, overcompensating for the lack of existing features compared to established competitors. The marketing blitz package includes email announcements, web posts, promotion on social media, animated videos, and tutorials to showcase new features and educate users on their benefits. By effectively communicating product updates and the value they bring, Beehive strengthens its reputation and social proof among its target audience.
Managing Remote Team and Overcoming Challenges
Running a remote company necessitates clear and frequent communication to maintain a strong company culture and overcome challenges. Beehive's CEO emphasizes over-communication by sending weekly deep dive emails to align everyone on goals, initiatives, and KPIs. All-hands meetings, demos, and lunch and learn sessions are held biweekly to share context, foster relationships, promote teamwork, and recognize individual contributions. Managing people and handling difficult conversations such as performance issues requires effective people management, clear communication, and maintaining motivation among team members, especially during challenging times.
Episode 59: Alex Lieberman (@businessbarista) chats with Tyler Denk, an old teammate from Morning Brew, about the building of Beehiiv. It’s a newsletter platform that boosts some of the top newsletters today, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Arnold’s Pump Club to Mattew Berry’s Fantasy Life. In just 2 years, it’s already raised $16.7 million and is doing around $750K/mo in business.
