Episode
Austin Rief: Building Morning Brew, The Ultimate Guide to Building Newsletter Businesses, Side Hustle Ideas, & More
1:17:11
Published: Tue Dec 20 2022
Description
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
Chapters
The speaker talks about telling his parents that he wanted to drop out of college after completing three years, and how the idea of them spending money on three years of college without completing the fourth year drove them crazy.
00:00 - 02:42 (02:42)
Summary
The speaker talks about telling his parents that he wanted to drop out of college after completing three years, and how the idea of them spending money on three years of college without completing the fourth year drove them crazy.
EpisodeAustin Rief: Building Morning Brew, The Ultimate Guide to Building Newsletter Businesses, Side Hustle Ideas, & More
PodcastMy First Million
In this podcast, the speaker talks about a sports business that was sold for a 70 million dollar valuation and the competitive nature of the industry.
02:42 - 04:57 (02:14)
Summary
In this podcast, the speaker talks about a sports business that was sold for a 70 million dollar valuation and the competitive nature of the industry.
EpisodeAustin Rief: Building Morning Brew, The Ultimate Guide to Building Newsletter Businesses, Side Hustle Ideas, & More
PodcastMy First Million
There was a rivalry between Morning Brew and another company who believed that their news stories were better.
04:57 - 09:17 (04:20)
Summary
There was a rivalry between Morning Brew and another company who believed that their news stories were better. Some employees of the rival company became upset when Morning Brew wrote better stories and it caused tension in the workplace.
EpisodeAustin Rief: Building Morning Brew, The Ultimate Guide to Building Newsletter Businesses, Side Hustle Ideas, & More
PodcastMy First Million
Speakers discuss their paths to building successful businesses and the revenue they generated, including their strategies and opportunities for growth.
09:17 - 11:46 (02:29)
Summary
Speakers discuss their paths to building successful businesses and the revenue they generated, including their strategies and opportunities for growth.
EpisodeAustin Rief: Building Morning Brew, The Ultimate Guide to Building Newsletter Businesses, Side Hustle Ideas, & More
PodcastMy First Million
Choosing the right naming convention can have a significant impact on the success and profitability of a business.
11:46 - 16:05 (04:19)
Summary
Choosing the right naming convention can have a significant impact on the success and profitability of a business. While some conventions work better for finance or professional industries, others may not translate as well for more niche markets like fly fishing or basketball.
EpisodeAustin Rief: Building Morning Brew, The Ultimate Guide to Building Newsletter Businesses, Side Hustle Ideas, & More
PodcastMy First Million
The podcast discusses the importance of language in selling and how certain words or phrases can impact consumer behavior.
16:05 - 19:52 (03:47)
Summary
The podcast discusses the importance of language in selling and how certain words or phrases can impact consumer behavior. They also touch on the power of a persistent sales pitch.
EpisodeAustin Rief: Building Morning Brew, The Ultimate Guide to Building Newsletter Businesses, Side Hustle Ideas, & More
PodcastMy First Million
The host praises the guest's exceptional operational ability and marketing insights, to which the guest attributes his success at a young age to being hands-on and not relying on market studies or brand lift studies that work on a larger scale.
19:52 - 25:32 (05:39)
Summary
The host praises the guest's exceptional operational ability and marketing insights, to which the guest attributes his success at a young age to being hands-on and not relying on market studies or brand lift studies that work on a larger scale.
EpisodeAustin Rief: Building Morning Brew, The Ultimate Guide to Building Newsletter Businesses, Side Hustle Ideas, & More
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker discusses scaling businesses from zero to one and up to a hundred billion years and the importance of partnering for continued success.
25:32 - 28:54 (03:22)
Summary
The speaker discusses scaling businesses from zero to one and up to a hundred billion years and the importance of partnering for continued success.
EpisodeAustin Rief: Building Morning Brew, The Ultimate Guide to Building Newsletter Businesses, Side Hustle Ideas, & More
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker recalls investors questioning the low cost of their business, not accounting for the manual labor they put into gathering emails and data themselves, even something as small as deciphering handwriting.
28:54 - 32:00 (03:05)
Summary
The speaker recalls investors questioning the low cost of their business, not accounting for the manual labor they put into gathering emails and data themselves, even something as small as deciphering handwriting.
EpisodeAustin Rief: Building Morning Brew, The Ultimate Guide to Building Newsletter Businesses, Side Hustle Ideas, & More
PodcastMy First Million
Morning Brew's co-founder, Alex Lieberman, credits his immigrant upbringing for instilling the work ethic and determination necessary to create a successful news brand targeted to millennials.
32:00 - 35:02 (03:02)
Summary
Morning Brew's co-founder, Alex Lieberman, credits his immigrant upbringing for instilling the work ethic and determination necessary to create a successful news brand targeted to millennials.
EpisodeAustin Rief: Building Morning Brew, The Ultimate Guide to Building Newsletter Businesses, Side Hustle Ideas, & More
PodcastMy First Million
In a conversation, someone talks about not wanting to meet new people like Sam and how people often ask how they're still single after making a big deal, similar to the hosts who also have their own wins.
35:02 - 38:05 (03:02)
Summary
In a conversation, someone talks about not wanting to meet new people like Sam and how people often ask how they're still single after making a big deal, similar to the hosts who also have their own wins.
EpisodeAustin Rief: Building Morning Brew, The Ultimate Guide to Building Newsletter Businesses, Side Hustle Ideas, & More
PodcastMy First Million
A discussion on the benefits of hiring young, inexperienced individuals who are promising, in building an impressive media company and creating a unique work culture early on.
38:05 - 42:25 (04:20)
Summary
A discussion on the benefits of hiring young, inexperienced individuals who are promising, in building an impressive media company and creating a unique work culture early on.
EpisodeAustin Rief: Building Morning Brew, The Ultimate Guide to Building Newsletter Businesses, Side Hustle Ideas, & More
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker shares their investing strategy, which involves diversifying their portfolio through investments in S&P 500 and Vanguard-like target date funds.
42:25 - 46:07 (03:42)
Summary
The speaker shares their investing strategy, which involves diversifying their portfolio through investments in S&P 500 and Vanguard-like target date funds. They also discuss the pitfalls of small earn outs in deals.
EpisodeAustin Rief: Building Morning Brew, The Ultimate Guide to Building Newsletter Businesses, Side Hustle Ideas, & More
PodcastMy First Million
During tough economic times, focus on helping companies save money or earning individuals side income.
46:07 - 48:31 (02:24)
Summary
During tough economic times, focus on helping companies save money or earning individuals side income. Content marketing agencies or marketplaces for B2B companies could be a great opportunity to do so.
EpisodeAustin Rief: Building Morning Brew, The Ultimate Guide to Building Newsletter Businesses, Side Hustle Ideas, & More
PodcastMy First Million
The Morning Brew and The Hustle have scaled to high seven figures in less than a year, showing great potential for future brand growth.
48:31 - 50:34 (02:03)
Summary
The Morning Brew and The Hustle have scaled to high seven figures in less than a year, showing great potential for future brand growth.
EpisodeAustin Rief: Building Morning Brew, The Ultimate Guide to Building Newsletter Businesses, Side Hustle Ideas, & More
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker discusses their thoughts on buying neglected items and shares their preference for ideas that have potential for success quickly, without relying on long-term trends.
50:34 - 54:34 (03:59)
Summary
The speaker discusses their thoughts on buying neglected items and shares their preference for ideas that have potential for success quickly, without relying on long-term trends.
EpisodeAustin Rief: Building Morning Brew, The Ultimate Guide to Building Newsletter Businesses, Side Hustle Ideas, & More
PodcastMy First Million
The talk focus on the traits of interesting founders and skepticism towards investing in open AI-based companies due to their dependence on a simple wrapper.
54:34 - 57:02 (02:28)
Summary
The talk focus on the traits of interesting founders and skepticism towards investing in open AI-based companies due to their dependence on a simple wrapper.
EpisodeAustin Rief: Building Morning Brew, The Ultimate Guide to Building Newsletter Businesses, Side Hustle Ideas, & More
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker expresses discontent with the New York media scene, particularly with the prevalence of unionizing and the pressure to constantly spend money on leisure activities.
57:02 - 1:01:06 (04:04)
Summary
The speaker expresses discontent with the New York media scene, particularly with the prevalence of unionizing and the pressure to constantly spend money on leisure activities. However, they also appreciate the talented team they have built.
EpisodeAustin Rief: Building Morning Brew, The Ultimate Guide to Building Newsletter Businesses, Side Hustle Ideas, & More
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker praises the effectiveness of radical candor in developing stronger relationships and in solving problems effectively in the workplace, acknowledging initial feelings of discomfort with the concept.
1:01:06 - 1:03:19 (02:12)
Summary
The speaker praises the effectiveness of radical candor in developing stronger relationships and in solving problems effectively in the workplace, acknowledging initial feelings of discomfort with the concept.
EpisodeAustin Rief: Building Morning Brew, The Ultimate Guide to Building Newsletter Businesses, Side Hustle Ideas, & More
PodcastMy First Million
Two friends share a love for comedy and exchange messages about their favorite comedians, with one of them studying the techniques of greats such as Hussein.
1:03:19 - 1:06:39 (03:20)
Summary
Two friends share a love for comedy and exchange messages about their favorite comedians, with one of them studying the techniques of greats such as Hussein.
EpisodeAustin Rief: Building Morning Brew, The Ultimate Guide to Building Newsletter Businesses, Side Hustle Ideas, & More
PodcastMy First Million
Nisha discusses her desire to become a CEO and her appreciation for an innate leadership quality that she possesses.
1:06:39 - 1:10:00 (03:21)
Summary
Nisha discusses her desire to become a CEO and her appreciation for an innate leadership quality that she possesses.
EpisodeAustin Rief: Building Morning Brew, The Ultimate Guide to Building Newsletter Businesses, Side Hustle Ideas, & More
PodcastMy First Million
Learn from people who are better than you, put yourself in unusual and intensive situations like improv or acting, and surround yourself with those you admire; these three things can help you improve your skills.
1:10:00 - 1:13:31 (03:30)
Summary
Learn from people who are better than you, put yourself in unusual and intensive situations like improv or acting, and surround yourself with those you admire; these three things can help you improve your skills.
EpisodeAustin Rief: Building Morning Brew, The Ultimate Guide to Building Newsletter Businesses, Side Hustle Ideas, & More
PodcastMy First Million
Running a business may seem easy at first, but it takes more than just a couple of years to make it successful.
1:13:31 - 1:14:33 (01:02)
Summary
Running a business may seem easy at first, but it takes more than just a couple of years to make it successful. It requires dedication and persistence if you truly want to succeed as an entrepreneur.