Build $1000/day cash-flowing startup on beehiiv (here's how)
March 31, 2025
AI Summary
5 min readThe $20K/month side project hiding in plain sight
Tyler Denk, co-founder of Beehiiv, built a newsletter called Big Desk Energy to 90,000 subscribers in 14 months as a side project. He puts in about five hours a week. It generates between $20,000 and $30,000 per month. He is not a celebrity with a massive existing audience. He is the CEO of the platform, which helps, but he insists the playbook is replicable. The key insight: there is no single silver bullet. Growth comes from layering eight to ten different acquisition channels, each adding a few hundred subscribers per week, until they compound into thousands.
The subscribe flow as a conversion machine
Most newsletter operators treat the signup process as a single step: someone enters their email and gets a confirmation. Denk treats it as a multi-stage funnel. After someone subscribes to Big Desk Energy, they see a page of recommended newsletters. The top three are sponsored via Beehiiv's Boost network, meaning other newsletters pay Denk $2–$4 per lead if the new subscriber toggles on their newsletter too. About one in five people opt into an additional subscription, generating passive revenue immediately.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:00) **Why Start an Email Business** - Greg introduces the episode's thesis: building an email-based business to reach $10-20K/month, and brings on Tyler Denk, Beehiiv co-founder and former Morning Brew growth lead.
- 2 (04:06) **Top of Funnel: The Website as a Growth Hub** - Tyler shows how Beehiiv's built-in website builder serves as the primary landing page for subscriber acquisition.
- 3 (09:50) **Custom Sign-Up Flows & The Survey** - After someone subscribes, Tyler uses a multi-step flow to recommend other newsletters, collect data, and drive deeper engagement.
- 4 (25:08) **Organic Growth via the Recommendation Network** - Tyler shows how being recommended by other Beehiiv newsletters drives a few hundred free, high-quality subscribers per week.
- 5 (28:28) **Boost: The Paid Growth & Monetization Engine** - Tyler explains the two-sided Boost marketplace where publishers pay for subscriber referrals and earn money by promoting others.
- 6 (38:06) **Lead Magnets: Packaging Value for Growth** - Tyler and Greg discuss how to create a digital asset (e.g., a seed deck PDF) that attracts your ideal subscriber.
- 7 (46:08) **The Referral Program: Turning Superfans into a Growth Channel** - Tyler explains his low-cost referral system, inspired by Milk Road, that rewards one referral with a free digital asset.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
Build your business with beehiiv: https://www.beehiiv.com/greg-isenberg?utm_campaign=Q22025-greg-isenberg-partnership&utm_medium=influencer&utm_source=podcast&utm_source_platform=podcast&via=greg-isenberg-Q22025&utm_marketing_tactic=awareness&utm_creative_format=podcast&utm_content=greg-isenberg&utm_term=greg-isenberg
Join me as I chat with Tyler Denk, co-founder of Beehiiv, to discuss how to grow a newsletter to 100,000 subscribers. He demonstrates Beehiiv’s platform features including customizable websites, subscriber data collection, automated welcome sequences, and multiple monetization options. Tyler emphasizes there's no "silver bullet" for growth—success comes from combining multiple strategies that each contribute incrementally to building a valuable audience asset.
Get the 5-step guide to 100K subscribers: www.gregisenberg.com/beehiiv-business
Timestamps
• 00:00 - Intro
• 02:58 - Overview of newsletter growth potential
• 04:03 - Website building and email capture features
• 15:00 - Subscriber data collection and welcome automations
• 25:00 - Cross-promotion and "Boost" network for growth
• 38:06 - Lead magnets and referral programs
• 55:00 - Customized email collection based on content
• 1:08:35 - Monetization strategies (sponsorships, paid subscriptions)
• 1:10:55 - Final thoughts on consistency and getting started
Key Points
• Beehiiv’s all-in-one platform includes website building, email capture, subscriber data collection, referral programs, and monetization tools
• Multiple growth channels work together: lead magnets, email gating, referral programs, and cross-promotion with other newsletters
• Monetization comes through direct sponsorships, Beehiiv’s ad network, and the "Boost" feature where newsletters pay each other for subscriber referrals
1) Website & Email Capture Strategy
Beehiiv gives you a full website builder where you can create:
• Custom landing pages
• Email capture forms
• Pop-ups targeted by traffic source
• Different signup flows
The key? Create MULTIPLE entry points that convert 15-20% of visitors to subscribers.
Tyler's Windows 98-themed site stands out because it's INTENTIONALLY different!
2) The Subscribe Flow Magic
This is GENIUS:
After someone subscribes, Tyler shows:
• Sponsored newsletter recommendations
• A quick survey collecting demographic data
• A welcome page with popular content
This data helps him:
• Sell premium sponsorships
• Create targeted content
• Understand his audience (60% founders!)
3) Network
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