Inside the beehiiv Playbook with Tyler Denk, Co-founder and CEO
Sep 5, 2024
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Tyler Denk, Co-founder and CEO of beehiiv, shares his journey from being the second employee at Morning Brew to building a successful newsletter platform. He discusses scaling to 3.5 million subscribers and the $75 million exit to Business Insider. Tyler reveals the secrets behind beehiiv’s rapid growth, including their unique no-meeting days and innovative product positioning. He also reflects on the challenges of remote team dynamics, a significant loss in his co-founding team, and lessons learned during unexpected crises.
Tyler Denk's journey emphasizes the emotional volatility and challenges of fundraising, especially during early product-market fit stages.
Beehiv's rapid growth to a nearly $20 million revenue run rate showcases their commitment to user engagement and building in public.
The loss of co-founder Andrew highlighted the fragility of startups, reinforcing the importance of resilience and community support during hardships.
Beehiv's remote work philosophy fosters autonomy and productivity, emphasizing the significance of hiring talented individuals in an output-driven organization.
Deep dives
Journey of Raising Funds for Beehive
The co-founder and CEO of Beehive recounts the challenges faced while raising funds for the startup on two occasions, facing rejection initially. The first round was a tough pre-product and pre-revenue phase, but the subsequent attempt showcased growth with $20,000 monthly recurring revenue (MRR). The rejection felt more painful in this round, as there was a sense of product-market fit established. Ultimately, the experience highlights the volatility and emotional trials of fundraising in the startup experience.
Innovative Newsletter Platform
Beehive is positioned as a strong competitor in the newsletter space, achieving a nearly $20 million revenue run rate in just three years. The platform is driven by user engagement, receiving around 500 replies every time a newsletter is sent out. Building in public allows Beehive to iterate and respond rapidly to user feedback, leading to a culture of quick shipping despite competitive shortcomings. The focus on a lean team allows for a highly agile development process aimed at delivering value to users promptly.
Impactful Loss of Co-Founder
The passing of co-founder Andrew significantly affected Beehive, creating a vacuum that highlighted the company's fragility. Andrew's expertise was instrumental in the early days, and his loss underscored the emotional hardships of running a startup. The team rallied together to navigate technical challenges while managing their grief and responsibilities. This pivotal moment instilled a deeper commitment to resilience while emphasizing the need for accountability and the power of community in a startup environment.
Navigating Investor Relations
Beehive's approach to investor relations is centered on transparency and regular communication via monthly updates. This practice ensures accountability to investors while keeping the entire team informed about milestones and challenges. By sharing insights and experiences openly, the leadership manages to foster trust and maintain investor enthusiasm. The emphasis on sharing the entrepreneurial journey becomes a tool for relational management and helps in streamlining potential investor interactions.
Embracing Remote Work
Beehive is a manifestation of the remote work model, attracting talent from diverse geographies, thus enabling flexibility and work-life balance. The leadership emphasizes hiring the right people who embody autonomy and drive, running an output-driven organization. This structure ensures that employees can thrive without micromanagement while maintaining high standards of productivity. The overall philosophy reflects a commitment to robust culture and operational efficacy within a remote framework.
Strategic Product Development
The speed of Beehive's product development is attributed to a lean structure and a culture of urgency instilled by its founders. Early hiring choices favor full-stack engineers, which reduces the back-and-forth often seen in larger organizations. Instead of perfecting features before launch, the focus remains on iterative releases based on customer feedback, which accelerates enhancements. This principle of letting the market dictate adjustments ensures that product development is closely aligned with user needs and demands.
Learning from Adversity
Throughout its journey, Beehive has learned crucial lessons from challenges, notably in handling crises. An incident where the platform was taken offline highlighted potential vulnerabilities, forcing a reassessment of dependencies on service providers. The experience reinforced the need for resilience, strategic vendor choices, and proactive communication with users during crises. This period of reflection ultimately contributed to strengthened practices within the company to ensure similar issues are preemptively addressed.
The Importance of Team Chemistry
A major theme revolves around the significance of maintaining a strong team dynamic, where shared goals and high performance are essential. Experiencing personnel challenges emphasized how one underperforming member can impact overall productivity and morale. The focus on hiring top talent and nurturing a culture of accountability allows for cohesive team operation. Ultimately, the strategic hiring process ensures that the right mix of skills and motivation is present for driving the company forward.
Tyler Denk is the Co-founder and CEO of beehiiv, the newsletter platform built for growth.
We go inside beehiiv’s early days, including joining MorningBrew as the second employee, lessons scaling to 3.5 million subscribers, the $75 million sale to Business Insider, and why I didn’t invest in beehiiv despite being an early customer.
Tyler takes us inside the playbook that grew to $1.5m in monthly revenue in less than three years, including how they first positioned the product in a crowded market, how beehiiv ships so fast, when a co-founder passing away less than one year into building the business, and the day GoDaddy took the entire beehiiv platform offline for 8 hours.
Timestamps (00:00) Intro (01:36) Why Turner didn’t invest in beehiiv (twice) (03:04) Joining MorningBrew as the first employee (15:28) Why newsletters are so powerful (19:40) Scaling MorningBrew to 3.5 million subscribers and exiting to Business Insider (23:14) Difference between startups and big companies (26:26) Why beehiiv has two days of no meetings (27:53) The initial insight to start beehiiv (35:39) Building a programmatic newsletter ad marketplace (39:52) Dissecting beehiiv’s nearly $20m rev run rate business model (45:21) Inside beehiiv’s first funding round (46:58) Where Turner’s reference check went wrong (50:45) Litquidity and beehiiv’s initial product positioning (52:59) How beehiiv builds in public (57:41) Banning meetings two days per week (01:00:13) Why the best remote teams always beat in-person (01:06:19) The impact of a co-founder dying one year into the business (01:11:50) Raising a Series A despite operating at breakeven (01:16:14) Why Tyler writes public investor updates (01:21:04) Moving fast, and “why perfect kills all momentum” (01:26:03) When GoDaddy took beehiiv down for 8 hours (01:29:57) Why Tyler writes a newsletter (01:32:21) His Big Desk Energy Spotify playlist (01:36:08) Why you never regret firing bad hires (01:39:53) Looking up to Elon and Brian Chesky (01:41:34) Monk mode in Columbia
Referenced The Power of Investor Updates: https://mail.bigdeskenergy.com/p/power-investor-updates beehiiv’s old investor updates: https://mail.bigdeskenergy.com/c/beehiiv-investor-journey The BDE Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5s8443tfYUq3LLARJwGeYP
Where to find Tyler Twitter: https://twitter.com/denk_tweets LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-denk Newsletter: https://mail.bigdeskenergy.com
Where to find Turner Twitter: https://twitter.com/TurnerNovak LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/turnernovak Newsletter: https://www.thespl.it
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