My First Million

Kevin Ryan: How This Billionaire Founder Finds +$20B Business Ideas

Sep 14, 2023

01:02:04

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Kevin Ryan, Founder and CEO of AlleyCorp, shares how he runs his +$20B venture studio AlleyCorp, discusses the challenges faced in building big media companies, emphasizes the importance of having good ideas and good teams, talks about their involvement in psychedelics for mental health, and shares insights on AI in investments.

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Quick takeaways

Having a good idea, a strong team, and a willingness to invest in growth are key factors for success in starting and running multiple companies.

The success of Business Insider was attributed to strategies such as continuous updates, opinionated content, effective search engine optimization, and adapting to changing consumer habits.

While recognizing the potential of AI, it is more beneficial to use AI as a tool within existing businesses rather than making direct investments in AI companies, and automation will become more prevalent as technology costs decrease and labor costs increase.

Deep dives

Various Companies Started and Lessons Learned

The podcast episode explores Kevin Ryan's experience of starting multiple companies, including Business Insider and MongoDB. Ryan emphasizes the importance of having a good idea and a strong team as key factors for success. He also highlights the significance of being willing to invest in growth and hiring the right people. Ryan shares insights into the challenges he faced and the lessons he learned throughout his entrepreneurial journey.

Hire fast and believe in the biz

01:09

The Importance of knowing your role in Building Successful Products

01:02

The Impact of Rising Labor Costs on Automation

01:57

Advise for people who want a studio - start with one company

00:42

Introduction

3min

Building Big Media Companies: Challenges and Successes

16min

The Secret to Success: Good Ideas and Good Teams

22min

Reflections on CEO Roles and Best Businesses in Portfolios

2min

Discussing the Role of AI in Investments

2min

Focus in Launching Companies and Investing in the Job Market

8min

Future Plans, Lifestyle, and Investment Portfolio

6min

Episode 495: Shaan Puri (https://twitter.com/ShaanVP) and Sam Parr (https://twitter.com/theSamParr) talk with Kevin Ryan, Founder and CEO of AlleyCorp, an incubator and venture capital fund behind Business Insider, MongoDB, GILT and Zola among others. Kevin shares how he runs his +$20B venture studio AlleyCorp, why Buzzfeed ultimately failed, how he launches 8 companies a year and much more.

Want to see more MFM? Subscribe to the MFM YouTube channel here.

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Check Out Sam's Stuff:

• Hampton - https://www.joinhampton.com/

• Ideation Bootcamp - https://www.ideationbootcamp.co/

• Copy That - https://copythat.com/

Check Out Shaan's Stuff:

• Try Shepherd Out - https://www.supportshepherd.com/

• Shaan's Personal Assistant System - http://shaanpuri.com/remoteassistant

• Power Writing Course - https://maven.com/generalist/writing

• Small Boy Newsletter - https://smallboy.co/

• Daily Newsletter - https://www.shaanpuri.com/

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Show Notes:

(0:00) Intro

(3:15) Selling DoubleClick to Google for ~$3B

(5:20) Starting Business Insider, MongoDB and Gilt

(11:00) What led Kevin to start Business Insider

(15:00) Why Kevin hired Henry Blodget to run Business Insider

(16:45) What did Buzzfeed get wrong?

(18:45) Why has AlleyCorp been such a success compared to other venture studios?

(29:20) What businesses Kevin’s excited about right now

(39:00) Thoughts on buy vs. build vs. bootstrap

(41:00) What business has been the easiest and most profitable?

(42:50) Thoughts on AI

(44:50) Launching 8 companies a year

(47:40) Why Kevin isn’t on social media

(50:20) Starting companies in the recruiting space

(54:20) The benefit of being emotionally stable

(56:20) Kevin’s investment portfolio

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Links:

• Kevin’s Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinryan3/

• AlleyCorp - https://alleycorp.com/

• Business Insider - https://www.businessinsider.com/

• Henry Blodget - https://twitter.com/hblodget

• MongoDB - https://www.mongodb.com/

• Gilt - https://www.gilt.com/

• The Ladders - https://www.theladders.com/

• RippleMatch - https://ripplematch.com/

• Do you love MFM and want to see Sam and Shaan's smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.

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Past guests on My First Million include Rob Dyrdek, Hasan Minhaj, Balaji Srinivasan, Jake Paul, Dr. Andrew Huberman, Gary Vee, Lance Armstrong, Sophia Amoruso, Ariel Helwani, Ramit Sethi, Stanley Druckenmiller, Peter Diamandis, Dharmesh Shah, Brian Halligan, Marc Lore, Jason Calacanis, Andrew Wilkinson, Julian Shapiro, Kat Cole, Codie Sanchez, Nader Al-Naji, Steph Smith, Trung Phan, Nick Huber, Anthony Pompliano, Ben Askren, Ramon Van Meer, Brianne Kimmel, Andrew Gazdecki, Scott Belsky, Moiz Ali, Dan Held, Elaine Zelby, Michael Saylor, Ryan Begelman, Jack Butcher, Reed Duchscher, Tai Lopez, Harley Finkelstein, Alexa von Tobel, Noah Kagan, Nick Bare, Greg Isenberg, James Altucher, Randy Hetrick and more.

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