E42: Tyler Denk is the Founder & CEO of Beehiiv, an email service provider that's taking the newsletter industry by storm. If you are a regular listener, you already know that I use Beehiiv for the First Class Founders newsletter and I am incredibly happy with it.
Tyler and I spoke about:
- His thoughts on the future of newsletters
- His role as the Growth Engineer at Morning Brew
- His first venture during his college days - VentureStorm
- What separates the great newsletters from the rest of the pack
This is a captivating story you don't want to miss!
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SPONSOR:
Big thanks to
Swell AI for sponsoring this episode. Swell AI is like having a production assistant 24/7. If you're a content creator, do yourself a favor and try
Swell AI.
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EXCERPTS:
Building in Public:
"I think fundamentally people align more with an individual person than a brand and kind of like self nominating myself as the face of the brand, being able to talk about the ups and downs of the business, what we're prioritizing, what's working, what's not working, sharing revenue numbers, sharing growth numbers, but also sharing things that we had tried that didn't work out." — Tyler Denk (24:41)
Future of Beehiiv:
"We're looking to be acquirers. I believe we are the innovators in the space. We have a tremendous nucleus of talent. We have a very, very ambitious roadmap. And if Mailchimp could sell for $12 billion for what they accomplished, I think what we're building is far more ambitious and powerful than what they have built. And so we're looking to be innovators in the space. We're looking to make acquisitions. We're not looking to be acquired." — Tyler Denk (35:49)
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TOPICS:
[00:05:13] Tyler's Impressive Work Ethic
[00:07:24] VentureStorm: Tyler's First Startup
[00:09:08] How Tyler Grew Morning Brew to 3.5 Million Subscribers
[00:14:46] Beehiiv's Early Days
[00:22:36] How Beehiiv Grew So Fast Organically
[00:24:41] Why Tyler Builds Beehiiv in Public
[00:25:37] What All Successful Newsletters Have in Common
[00:31:00] Tyler's Advice For Founders
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LINKS:
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First Class Founders is a show for indie hackers, bootstrapped founders, CEOs, solopreneurs, content creators, startup entrepreneurs, and SaaS startups covering topics like build in public, audience growth, product marketing, scaling up, side hustles, holding company, etc.
Past guests include Arvid Kahl, Tyler Denk, Noah Kagan, Clint Murphy, Jay Abraham, Andrew Gazdecki, Matt McGarry, Nick Huber, Khe Hy, and more.
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