Episode 398: Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) and Sam Parr (@TheSamParr) talk to Morning Brew Founder & CEO Austin Rief (@austin_rief) about building, growing and selling a newsletter valued at $75M in 5 years, whether newsletter businesses are still worth doing, how to make them succeed, and a few good side hustle ideas to start now.-----Links:* Morning Brew * Toptal* Do you love MFM and want to see Sam and Shaan's smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.* Want more insights like MFM? Check out Shaan's newsletter.------Show Notes:(01:00) - Morning Brew origin story(19:10) - Ad sales(24:10) - Austin's strengths(32:15) - Austin's upbringing(42:55) - What did you do with your new found wealth?(45:55) - Ideas brainstorm(01:13:14) - Future plans-----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.-----Additional episodes you might enjoy:• #224 Rob Dyrdek - How Tracking Every Second of His Life Took Rob Drydek from 0 to $405M in Exits• #209 Gary Vaynerchuk - Why NFTS Are the Future• #178 Balaji Srinivasan - Balaji on How to Fix the Media, Cloud Cities & Crypto* #169 - How One Man Started 5, Billion Dollar Companies, Dan Gilbert's Empire, & Talking With Warren Buffett• ​​​​#218 - Why You Should Take a Think Week Like Bill Gates• Dave Portnoy vs The World, Extreme Body Monitoring, The Future of Apparel Retail, "How Much is Anthony Pompliano Worth?", and More• How Mr Beast Got 100M Views in Less Than 4 Days, The $25M Chrome Extension, and More

Morning Brew founder Austin Rief joins Shaan Puri and Sam Parr on this episode. They brainstorm weird business ideas like Gen Z Bingo, Binge-Eating Bars, and Meat Influencers. They also discuss successful creator brands, the limited knowledge of experts in other areas, and the appeal of luxury travel experiences.

►►Subscribe to Greg's weekly newsletter for insights on community,creators and commerce.You'll also find out when new and exclusiveepisodes come out from Where it Happens. And it's totally free.https://latecheckout.substack.comFIND ME ON SOCIAL:Twitter: https://twitter.com/gregisenbergInstagram: https://instagram.com/gregisenberg/TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@gregisenbergLINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:Production Team: https://www.bigoceanpodcasting.comAustin Rief: https://twitter.com/austin_riefSHOW NOTES:0:00 - Intro3:54 - The verticalization of email12:10 - Deconstructing the Mr. Beast content model16:27 - The pros and cons of different newsletter categories27:22 - Too niche or not niche enough?33:00 - How to start a newsletter in 202335:20 - Newsletter monetization42:17 - How Austin Rief thinks about AI and media businesses44:37 - Can you be friends with the competition?47:47 - Austin Rief peers into the crystal ball

Bonus episode.  I compiled some of my favorite insights from the 13 episodes in January (not the Q&A).    So much gold gets shared in these episodes. I wanted a way to remember, distill, reflect, and resurface.   Share, tweet, or text this episode. That helps it grow. If it grows, the guests will continue to be incredible. And if the guests continue to be incredible, I can keep doing the show. (0:00) Intro  (2:02) Noah Huisman - 296  (3:45) Aaron Alexander - 297  (6:00) Justin Welsh - 298  (7:05) Morgan Housel - 299  (10:48) Grace Smith - 301  (13:17) Austin Rief - 302  (16:52) Dr. Anthony Gustin - 303  (19:33) Brian Peters - 304  (24:30) David Perell - 305  (28:57) George Heaton - 306  (33:44) Elliott Bisnow - 307  (36:30) Dickie Bush - 308  (39:23) Bryan Johnson - 309 My Links ✉️ Newsletter: https://dannymiranda.substack.com 🎙 Podcast: https://anchor.fm/dannymiranda 🎥 YouTube: https://youtube.com/dannymiranda 🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/heydannymiranda 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/heydannymiranda 🕺 TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@heydannymiranda

On the first episode of Media Empires, Erik Torenberg sits down with Morning Brew's CEO Austin Rief to learn his perspective on the future of the media business, the critical elements that determine success, and where he sees the single biggest opportunity to build a media empire. Riverside.fm is a presenting sponsor of Media Empires. Go to https://creators.riverside.fm/MediaEmpires + use code MEDIAEMPIRES for 20% off individual plans. This episode was recorded in early spring of 2023, but just as relevant today.We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com.Media Empires is part of the Turpentine podcast network. To learn more: turpentine.coRECOMMENDED PODCAST:🎙️ECON 102 W/ NOAH SMITH - Keeping econ entertaining - Noahpinion author Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg break down business news and politics every week.Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1696419056Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6q7Gn5lP8TTtBPuV1NJSGsTIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Episode Preview(01:02) Sponsor: https://creators.riverside.fm/MediaEmpires(02:10) The evolution of Morning Brew at critical junctures(04:39) How to target your audience(06:20) Where is the biggest opportunity: super niche or aggregation of niches?(10:04) Austin’s hopes for media in 2023(11:35) Why succeeding in media is different than succeeding in startups(16:12) Data businesses in media(17:24) B2B in media(20:52) Austin offers advice for attracting and working with talent(23:12) Tradeoffs in monetization(25:00) What is the opportunity in tech media?(26:50) How Morning Brew picks its categories to cover(30:00) Building additional businesses on top of a media business(30:32) How should creators pick platforms?(36:18) How to think about podcasting(37:44) How has the course business evolved?(39:20) How Austin envisions Morning Brew growing(43:29) How the Morning Brew mafia continues to build out the media ecosystemLINKS: Morning Brew: https://www.morningbrew.com/TWITTER:@eriktorenberg@austin_rief@morningbrewSPONSOR:Head to Beehiiv, the newsletter platform built for growth, to power your own. Connect with premium brands, scale your audience, and deliver a beautiful UX that stands out in an inbox. 🐝to https://Beehiiv.com and use code "EMPIRES" for 20% off your first three monthsThanks to our sponsor RiversideGo to https://bit.ly/Riverside_MediaEmpires + use code MEDIAEMPIRES for 20% off individual plans.