Creator Lab - interviews with entrepreneurs and startup founders

Get every episode + giveaways sent to your inbox: https://www.creatorlab.fm/subscribe/ Let us know what you think on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bzaidi​ https://twitter.com/noahkagan Subscribe to Noah's YouTube channel & Podcast: https://sleek.bio/noah Watch & Subscribe on YouTube: https://youtu.be/mAnOqgH0OgA Noah Kagan is the founder of AppSumo, an 8-figure business bringing in an estimated $70mil+ in 2021. He was employee #30 at Facebook, #4 at Mint.com and his popular YouTube channel has over 140k subscribers. In this conversation, you'll learn: the 80/20 of succeeding on YouTube what he's learned from popular YouTubers like Mr. Beast and Ali Abdaal how Noah tests topics, thumbnails + behind the scenes look at the master doc his team uses to manage his channel (watch screen share on YouTube.com/creatorlabfm) growing through partnerships, newsletter swaps + ads we get personal and talk relationships, his formula for freedom + how he invests Timestamps: 0:00:00 - Snippet + What We Cover 0:02:12 - Sponsor Break 0:03:01 - Intro + Booyakasha 0:03:32 - Number 30 Employee At Facebook 0:08:17 - What Is AppSumo? $70mil Revenue Business 0:10:15 - AppSumo’s Impact 0:13:19 - Is Noah 11/10 energy all the time? 0:16:27 - Inputs vs Outputs + Craft vs Metrics 0:19:01 - Formula For Freedom 0:20:26 - Knowing When To Stop vs Keep Going 0:24:16 - Finding What You’d Do For Free + As A Kid 0:27:51 - Understanding What Gives You Energy 0:37:09 - Rethinking Old Mental Models Of Money + Happiness 0:41:53 - What Will You Think About On Your Deathbed 0:44:40 - Tale Of Two Lives 0:50:15 - Growing To 140k+ YouTube Subscribers 0:53:34 - Investing $500k Into YouTube 0:56:07 - Who Is Doing YouTube Well? 0:58:42 - 80/20 of YouTube 1:00:41 - Mr Beast, 100 staff + treating it like a business 1:02:06 - His YouTube Creation Process 1:02:30 - Topic Selection 1:03:54 - Testing Topics, Thumbnails + CTRs 1:06:36 - Balancing What You Want To Make vs What Audience Wants 1:08:36 - Tools To Help With Topic Selection 1:09:18 - Screenshare - Noah Shares “Weekly Video Ideas” Planning Doc 1:14:32 - Partnerships + E-Mail Swaps 1:16:29 - Paid Ads 1:20:53 - Audience Questions 1:21:56 - Asymmetric Bets, Relationship With Money + Investing 1:26:29 - Wealth in Concentration, Preserve Through Diversification 1:28:08 - Where Do You Have An Advantage 1:28:50 - Why Noah Is Still Working Thank you to our sponsors: Space - the easiest way to engage your team over audio: http://www.JoinSpace.co Micro Acquire - the largest startup acquisition marketplace, join 50k+ others and buy or sell your startup: http://www.microacquire.com

Alex Lieberman is the co-founder & CEO of Morning Brew. They're a leading new media startup with over 2.7mil newsletter subscribers, making them one of the largest daily newsletters around. Alex & his co-founder sold a majority stake in the business to Insider Inc for a reported $75mil in Oct 2020. After listening to this conversation, you'll understand: growing from a newsletter to a full-on media business 3 step audience funnel: rented, owned + monetized hub + spoke model how they got their first 1000 subscribers by doing things that don't scale growth stages: from 1k to 10k, 100k and 1mil+ subscribers how to grow through email swaps, paid ads + partnerships a framework to reinvent old formats like Shark Tank or QVC Let us know what you think on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bzaidi https://twitter.com/businessbarista Watch with visuals referenced on YouTube: https://youtu.be/12KYBLPvEIg Timestamps: 0:00:00 - Preview + What You’ll Learn 0:02:17 - Sponsor Break 0:03:08 - Interview Start 0:03:44 - Grandma Likes Morning Brew 0:04:59 - Growing From Newsletter To Media Brand 0:07:23 - Acquired For Reported $75mil By Insider Inc 0:08:21 - Scale of Morning Brew: 2.7mil subscribers 0:11:28 - Audience Building Done Well 0:14:02 - Audience Funnel: Rented, Owned, Monetized 0:17:39 - “Who Is This NOT For?” 0:21:47 - Audience ≠ Distribution 0:25:25 - Unwritten Contract With An Audience 0:26:27 - Focus vs Breadth of Interests 0:29:05 - Ask Yourself Why 3x 0:33:14 - Hub & Spoke Model For Audience 0:38:23 - Getting First 1000 Subscribers + Growing Through Referrals 0:41:10 - Stages of Growth From 1k to 100k to 1mil 0:43:42 - When To Grow Through Paid Ads 0:47:20 - Growing Through E-Mail Swaps + Paid Ads 0:49:28 - Programmatic E-Mail Ads 0:50:43 - Snapchat Ads, YouTube Influencers + Channels That Worked 0:53:23 - Cross Promotion + Strategic Partnerships 0:55:59 - Signals Of Consumer Intent From E-Mail Clicks 1:00:13 - Multimedia + How To Grow A Podcast 1:02:11 - Re-Inventing What Worked In Legacy Media Business 1:05:05 - Macro + Micro Of Promotion 1:08:07 - 3 Types Of Content That Work Well For Podcast 1:08:38 - Timely News Hooks 1:10:26 - Evergreen “Service Content” - Solve Problem or Passion 1:13:35 - Vulnerable Content + Imposter Syndrome 1:19:04 - Future Of Monetization 1:24:14 - Talent vs Learned Skill 1:26:00 - Jay-Z, Mr. Beast + Ownership 1:30:03 - Building A Writing Habit + Ship 30 For 30 1:32:13 - Accountability 1:35:11 - Business Idea: Shark Tank For The Digital Age 1:39:09 - Re-inventing old formats: QVC + who wants to be a millionaire 1:42:51 - Dealing With Bad Times + His Dad’s Loss 1:48:01 - Survivor Guilt Thank you to our sponsors: Space - the easiest way to engage your team over audio: http://www.JoinSpace.co Micro Acquire - the largest startup acquisition marketplace, join 50k+ others and buy or sell your startup: http://www.microacquire.com

Dru Riley is the founder of Trends.vc, a community + newsletter that helps 35,000 entrepreneurs discover new markets + ideas. Trends makes tens of thousands of dollars/month in subscription revenue + was ranked "Product of The Month" on Product Hunt. In this conversation you'll learn about: – the meta-trends behind what Dru writes about, the things that don't change, after studying the things that do change – democratization, positive-sum networks + fractional ownership – trends he's excited about including: DeFi (decentralized finance) + DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations) and NFTs (non-fungible tokens) – the 80/20 of his research + editing process, including how he processed 172 podcasts for 1 recent report – we go behind the mind & discuss some of his rules for life, we touch on incentives, stories + courage Let us know what you think on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bzaidi https://twitter.com/DruRly Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/q5rdqLzy-Gw Timestamps: 0:00:00 - Preview 0:02:46 - Intro To Dru + Trends 0:04:57 - Scale of Trends 0:05:39 - Software Engineering Background + Knowing When To Leave 0:08:14 - Starting Books In The Middle 0:11:46 - Making First $15 after saving up $250k 0:21:00 - Rejecting An Offer Of Investment 0:22:22 - Decision Dilution + Stakeholder Types 0:25:14 - Content vs Trust Treadmill 0:26:01 - Refining Like A Standup Comedian 0:28:34 - Signals To Look For In Feedback 0:31:37 - Meta-trends 0:33:45 - Democratization 0:36:18 - Ability To Build Smaller 0:38:06 - Coders vs Builders - “Code Is Being Commoditized” 0:40:57 - Decentralization 0:43:06 - Positive Sum Networks 0:45:26 - What are DAOs (decentralized autonomous orgs) 0:46:53 - Fractional Ownership 0:48:45 - NFTs 0:51:41 - Direct To Consumer 0:52:44 - Research + Writing Process 0:54:57 - Processing 172 Podcasts 0:59:10 - Podcast Speed + Dopamine Hits 1:02:15 - Edit - “How Many, How Much” 1:03:52 - Filtering Feedback 1:05:49 - Constraints 1:08:34 - Starting From Scratch Today 1:11:37 - Behind The Mind - 100 Rules To Live By 1:12:15 - Hard choices easy life. Easy choices hard life. 1:13:05 - Think Grey, Not Black + White - Annie Duke 1:14:09 - Stories vs Insight 1:16:59 - Incentives 1:17:56 - “Life Is Short, Not Fair” 1:19:27 - Don’t Try To Change Someone’s Worldview 1:21:20 - “It’s Not About The Bag” 1:23:24 - Memento Mori 1:24:29 - Life Is Not Baseball - Play Asymmetric Games 1:25:23 - Courage Thank you to our sponsors: Space - the easiest way to engage your team over audio: http://www.JoinSpace.co Micro Acquire - the largest startup acquisition marketplace, join 50k+ others and buy or sell your startup: http://www.microacquire.com

Lexi Lewtan the founder of Centered, where she's building the Masterclass for Mental Health. Previously she ran operations for AngelList's Talent Platform, scaling it from zero to $20m in revenue. She has a deep background in the startup world, previously working at Hired & betaworks. In this conversation you'll learn: lessons in recruiting & the 80/20 of hiring the business model behind AngelList Talent & Hired tools to help you deal with focus, anxiety, depression & work stress the difference between CBT & DBT why depression feels like playing life on "hard mode" Let us know what you think on Twitter, I'm @bzaidi and she's @lexilewtan Timestamps: 00:00:00 Preview 00:02:12 Lexi Intro – Betaworks, Hired, AngelList, Centered 00:03:36 Hired Raised $150mil – What Went Wrong? 00:07:23 Moving to AngelList 00:09:34 Superpower 00:12:24 Experiments at AngelList 00:15:50 Hiring Pricing Model – 15% of salary vs flat fee 00:21:30 Lessons In Recruiting 00:23:54 Scraping & Growth Hacking 00:26:57 80/20 Of Recruiting 00:29:35 Advice To New Grads 00:33:46 Centered Origin Story 00:35:57 CBT vs DBT 00:40:17 Tools For Mental Health 00:42:54 Focus: Planned Obsolescence 00:44:45 Motivation + Values 00:48:04 Tool for managing anxiety – “shut the door” 00:49:28 Managing Depression 00:51:00 Inner Child Exercises 00:53:37 Journaling 00:56:08 “Life Becomes Hard Mode” - Defining Depression 00:59:55 Future Of Mental Health Thank you to our sponsors: Space - the easiest way to engage your team over audio: http://www.JoinSpace.co Micro Acquire - the largest startup acquisition marketplace, join 50k+ others and buy or sell your startup: http://www.microacquire.com

Jake Gibson is the co-founder of NerdWallet & Founding Partner at Better Tomorrow Ventures, a $75mil venture fund, investing in the future of Fintech alongside Sheel Mohnot. He's been involved in fintech for over a decade. Prior to NerdWallet, he studied math and quantitative finance at MIT and traded interest rate derivatives at JPMorgan. Let us know what you think on Twitter: @bzaidi & @iamjakestream Full video with timestamps on YouTube: https://youtu.be/s-Tcuootl7s In this conversation we discuss: NerdWallet's business model + growing to a $500mil+ valuation the transition from founder to investor + the 80/20 of investing mental models to figure out your next step why "everything is fintech" + examples of this thesis DeFi, NFTs, stock market highs & ideas from a global fintech market Timestamps: 00:00:00 Preview 00:02:20 Intro To Jake + Nerdwallet 00:06:57 Nerdwallet Deep Dive + $500mil Valuation 00:15:02 Opportunity: Nerdwallet Model In Other Verticals 00:18:40 Audience First Business in 2021 00:22:24 Trend: Audience Business Selling To Software Companies 00:26:09 Founder To Investor 00:31:12 Mental Model For Thinking About Next Step 00:35:29 "I want to be rich" - more context 00:39:48 Finding Motivation In Struggles 00:42:43 Role of Luck, Golden Handcuffs + Lifestyle Creep 00:48:51 80/20 of investing 00:51:31 "Everything Is Fintech" - Raising A $75mil Fund 00:56:04 Starting A Neo Bank 00:57:48 Fintech Opportunity In Ridesharing, Tesla & Airbnb 01:02:37 Facebook + Whatsapp Payments 01:03:06 Asia Market + WeChat Model 01:05:24 Problem vs Product…Verb vs Noun 01:10:54 Jake's Take on DeFi 01:16:40 NFTs + NBA Top Shots 01:20:59 Tesla's Balance Sheet 01:23:00 Elon + Chamath: Meme Masters 01:23:19 Global Market Ideas 01:29:09 Why Do We Have Stock Market Highs? 01:31:54 Investing Advice To A 25yr Old

Ana Lorena Fabrega is an EDUpreneur and former teacher known by little ones as Ms. Fab. She's currently the Chief Evangelist of Synthesis School, an innovative online enrichment club started by the director of Elon Musk’s experimental school at Space X. Synthesis helps students build decision-making & problem-solving skills through games. Let us know what you think on Twitter: @bzaidi & @anafabrega11 Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Fo_CM01BNTQ After listening to this conversation, you'll understand: why the current education system needs an overhaul the skills we should be developing in kids unlearning & the future of education the role of technology in learning forest schools, micro-schools & alternatives for parents to consider how games can be good for your kids the lindy effect & ideas that will stick around in education remote vs online education recommended books for kids Ana's Fab Friday Newsletter: https://afabrega.com/ Book Recommendations: Wonder by R.J. Palacio: https://amzn.to/3pNfneZ The Man Who Walked Between The Towers by Mordicai Gerstein: https://amzn.to/3qSvnh3 The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires: https://amzn.to/3pStkbu Fantastically Great Woman who Changed the World by Kate Pankhurst: https://amzn.to/3dG3nd3 Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Keaty and David Roberts: https://amzn.to/3uuPZyk What do you do with an idea? By Kobi Yamada: https://amzn.to/3qXaqSk Zero and One by Kathryn Otoshi: https://amzn.to/3dKezoM Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg: https://amzn.to/3bC898H

Nick Huber is a real estate entrepreneur, self-storage owner & operator. His commercial real estate portfolio is approaching $30mil in assets (as of 2021) & he's built a name for himself by championing "sweaty startups" aka unsexy businesses. Nick has built a 100k following on Twitter by transparently sharing the lessons learned from his time in business & by simplifying concepts in the real estate game. Let us know what you think of this convo on Twitter: @bzaidi and @sweatystartup Watch and subscribe on YouTube: https://youtu.be/s9Wgw1GN9-k After listening to part 1, you'll understand: the equation for getting wealthy in the real estate game the difference between creating vs growing wealth categories of real estate beyond what 99% of people invest in, from self-storage, to cemeteries & tiny homes - you'll learn about niche opportunities with less competition how real estate investors can make millions & legally pay little in taxes with depreciation, bonus depreciation & 1031 exchanges Nick's unique approach to finding upside from day one in commercial real estate why 100% occupancy rates aren't always a good thing & what Nick looks for in deals In part 2, "behind the mind" (starting at 48min) Nick & Bilal discuss: tribes, relationships & what truly matters in life growing up, dealing with bullying & insecurities choosing who you compete with unique ways to connect with aging parents why having kids is underrated & the importance of a supportive spouse Timestamps: 00:00:00 Intro 00:03:41 Who is Nick Huber? 00:11:00 What is a Cash-Out Refinance? 00:13:26 Growing Up in a Small, Rural Town 00:14:28 Having A Chip on Your Shoulder 00:18:28 Building vs Growing Wealth 00:20:31 Alpha vs Beta In Real Estate 00:21:02 Initial 700k Nest Egg 00:25:03 Initial Investment - Rule Of Thumb 00:27:25 Real Estate Investing On The Side 00:29:24 Nick's Real Estate Framework 00:33:55 100% Occupancy Isn't Always Good 00:36:45 Zero Income Tax With Depreciation & 1031 Exchanges 00:44:22 Conservation Easement 00:46:35 Real Estate Professional Status 00:47:52 Capital Gains 00:48:32 Part 2: Behind The Mind 00:51:02 Is Chasing Your Passions A Bad Idea? 00:55:35 "I Wanted To Call My Mother And Cry In Her Arms" 00:59:20 Giving Up Is Often The Best Choice There Is 01:01:38 Miami + Austin 01:02:48 "Nobody Cares About You Apart from A Handful Of People" 01:05:23 Google Maps Trick - Connecting With Parents 01:07:20 Dad's Twitter Post Went Viral 01:09:42 Having Kids is Underrated 01:12:29 The Tribe Makes The Place 01:15:04 Virtual Communities 01:19:48 Dealing With Bullying + Racism 01:23:43 The Importance of a Supportive Spouse 01:25:44 Advice For A Successful Relationship 01:28:13 Being An Opportunist 01:31:22 Wrap-Up

Anne-Laure Le Cunff is the founder of Ness Labs, a community for knowledge workers to be more productive and creative while taking care of their mental health. She's an ex-Googler and holds a MSc in Neuroscience from King's College London. Her work has been featured in WIRED, Rolling Stone, and more. Let us know what you think on Twitter: @bzaidi @anthilemoon   In this conversation, you'll learn about: focused vs diffused learning common misconceptions about the brain networked thought + idea sex the Feynman technique lucid dreaming + psychedelics how to build a thriving community as an individual creator Timestamps: 00:00:00 Intro 00:03:49 Who is Anne-Laure Le Cunff? 00:06:49 Ness Labs Revenue Breakdown 00:09:18 Transition From Consulting 00:12:09 French Dad + Algerian Mother 00:13:36 London 00:15:31 Knowing When To Leave Your Job 00:17:34 Ness Labs Flywheel 00:20:28 If Starting From Scratch Today 00:22:54 Introvert vs Extrovert 00:25:24 Monetization 00:27:38 Part 2: Behind the Mind 00:27:50 Focused vs Diffused Thinking 00:31:42 Sleep + Learning 00:32:40 There's No Such Thing as "Learning Styles" 00:35:35 Tackling Procrastination 00:37:10 Chunking 00:37:56 Process vs Product 00:41:01 The Feynman Technique 00:45:07 Lucid Dreaming 00:50:38 Neuromyth 1: Using 10% of Your Brain 00:53:18 Neuromyth 2: Left Brain vs Right Brain 00:54:37 Neuromyth 3: IQ Tests 00:58:36 Networked Thought 01:00:16 Roam Research 01:03:25 Idea Sex 01:06:50 6 Factors of Happiness 01:09:16 Wrap-Up

Watch the full convo and Q&A on YouTube: https://youtu.be/gSVQHw-da5s This is part 2, the Q&A of the live convo with Jack Butcher from Visualize Value. Listen to the previous episode to hear our live convo on the evolution of the creator economy & unique ways to monetize. Who Is Jack Butcher? Jack is the founder of Visualize Value, a company that builds content, community & courses for building independent income on the internet. His Twitter + Instagram accounts have grown to 400k+ followers in 2yrs & his business earned $1mil+ in 2020. This was Jack's second appearance on Creator Lab. This time, Jack & Bilal co-hosted a live recording with a virtual audience. To join the next one, sign up at: https://www.creatorlab.fm/live Let us know what you think on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/bzaidi https://www.twitter.com/jackbutcher Q&A Timestamps: 00:00:00 Intro 00:00:40 "A Niche Picks You" 00:02:55 Personal Brand vs Company Brand 00:04:21 Repurposing Across Platforms 00:13:21 Photographer - How To Productize a Service 00:15:23 "Why should I care?" 00:20:23 Music Industry example 00:21:00 Minimize Risk 00:24:07 Tactics To Get Momentum On A Project 00:26:11 Social Proof 00:28:32 Managing Relationships At Scale 00:32:53 Jack-of-all-trades 00:39:11 Wrap-up

Watch the full convo and Q&A on YouTube: https://youtu.be/gSVQHw-da5s Jack Butcher is the founder of Visualize Value, a company that builds content, community & courses for building independent income on the internet. His Twitter + Instagram accounts have grown to 400k+ followers in 2yrs & his business earned $1mil+ in 2020. This was Jack's second appearance on Creator Lab. This time, Jack & Bilal co-hosted a live recording with a virtual audience. To join the next one, sign up at: https://www.creatorlab.fm/live Let us know what you think on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/bzaidi https://www.twitter.com/jackbutcher After listening to this conversation, you'll understand: the evolution of the creator economy from 1000 true fans to 100 true fans importance of "1 true fan" content/product machine + "the factory is the product" why an audience is like a stem cell unique examples of creator monetization the importance of packaging, owning phrases & outcome-based marketing Jack's 2020 revenue breakdown Part 2, the live Q&A is in the next episode (look in your podcast feed) Timestamps: 00:00:00 Intro 00:04:26 What is the Creator Economy? 00:07:49 Succeeding With A Smaller Audience 00:08:39 1000 vs 100 True Fans 00:10:03 Jack's 2020 Revenue Screenshare 00:11:38 1 True Fan + Hedging 00:14:51 The Permissionless Apprentice 00:22:25 Audience ≠ Distribution 00:27:49 Concentration vs Diversification Of Focus 00:34:34 Downsides of Building a Public 00:36:41 "The Factory is the Product" 00:40:41 Employee = 1 Customer 00:44:00 Packaging + Owning Phrases 00:47:52 Outcome-Based Marketing 00:49:47 Unique Examples of Creator Monetization 00:50:45 Audience is like a Stem Cell - Shaan Puri Example 00:51:54 Investing As A "Knowledge Influencer" 00:55:35 Reps, Consistency + A-Side Tracks 01:01:18 The Value of Services vs Ads 01:06:37 Social Impact + Charity 01:10:22 Strategic Partnerships + Distribution 01:13:55 Choosing Partners Is Like A Marriage 01:16:51 SMS + New Channel Experiments