From Karaoke With Benioff to the Death of SEO: Alex Konrad on the Business of Media

The media landscape is noisier than ever. How can founders and business leaders get their stories heard? And in an age of AI-driven content, how can creators distinguish themselves and build a direct relationship with their audience? In this episode, CJ sits down with Alex Konrad, a longtime tech journalist, former Forbes editor (responsible for curating the renowned Forbes 30 Under 30, Cloud 100, and Midas lists), and founder of Upstarts, a newsletter covering startups, venture capital, and the people shaping the innovation economy. Alex shares insider stories from his decade at Forbes, including how lists like the “30 Under 30” were created and what it was like profiling (and sometimes singing karaoke with) the likes of Marc Benioff, Satya Nadella, and Sam Altman. The conversation explores the evolving landscape of media, the business fund-raising announcements, how startups can actually work with journalists to shape perception, the rise of VC firms as media powerhouses, the shifting role of platforms like Substack and LinkedIn, why relationship-driven content will outlast the race to break news, and the death of traditional SEO.

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LINKS:

Alex Konrad on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrkonrad

Alex Konrad on X (@alexrkonrad): https://x.com/alexrkonrad

Upstarts Media:

CJ on X (@cjgustafson222): https://x.com/cjgustafson222

Mostly metrics:

LINKS MENTIONED:

No Priors: AI, Machine Learning, Tech, & Startups: https://www.youtube.com/@NoPriorsPodcast

Latent Space: https://www.youtube.com/@LatentSpacePod

The Daily: https://www.nytimes.com/column/the-daily

52 Sourcery with Molly O'Shea https://www.youtube.com/@SourceryVC

The Information: https://www.nytimes.com/column/the-daily

RELATED EPISODES:

“Let’s Just See What Breaks” — Intuit’s CFO on Being a Disruptor When You’re Already the Incumbent -

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Preview and Intro

(02:32) Sponsor – Navan | Rillet | Pulley

(07:13) Building the Forbes 30 Under 30, Cloud 100, and Midas List

(11:49) The Meme of SEC Trouble on Forbes List and a Media Tip

(14:08) Why Lists Work So Well

(17:17) Sponsor – Brex | Aleph | RightRev

(21:57) What Might Convince Alex To Start a List

(23:13) Karaoke With Benioff & Interacting With Billionaires

(29:14) Entrepreneurship & Work-Life Integration

(33:25) Sales Skills Alex Learned as a Founder

(37:56) The Dance Behind Fundraising Announcements

(42:30) How To Capitalize on the Media Outside of Funding Rounds

(45:24) Examples of Founder “Oh S**t!” Moments

(47:58) VC Firms As Media Companies

(51:16) Non-Journalists Interviewing in Tech

(55:02) Audience Relationship & Guarding Against AI

(57:41) The Death of SEO

(1:00:45) The Value of Time Sensitivity and News in the Era of AI

(1:02:40) Platform Relationships & Substack

(1:04:55) Bootstrapping Media & VC Pressure

(1:10:55) Wrap

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#TechJournalism #MediaStrategy #AIinMedia #StartupPR #FutureOfMedia