The Co-Founder Of A $75M+ Company Gave Me His BEST Business Ideas

February 14, 2024

AI Summary

5 min read

In 2023, the entire staff of Sports Illustrated was laid off. The brand, owned by the conglomerate Authentic Brands ($21 billion in annual revenue, also owner of Reebok and Forever 21), had licensed its name to Arena Group, the relationship broke down, and the staff was gutted. Alex Lieberman, co-founder of Morning Brew, sees this not as a tragedy but as a business opportunity. The brand is a "thorn" for its owner, a distraction that will never be a fund returner. Lieberman's idea: buy the email list—not necessarily the license—and build a great daily sports newsletter. "I feel way better about being able to build a convince an email list of qualified sports junkies about the quality of a product I put out by hiring a badass newsletter writer than I do about having to in a year, basically from scratch, build a business that's doing at least seven figures just to cover the cost of the license." The core insight is the "hub and spoke model": latch onto existing distribution rather than starting from zero.

The Rev-Share Model: Sushi Baybu for Media

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What you'll learn

1 (00:00) **Curation as a Superpower** - Alex Lieberman introduces the core thesis: curation, not creation, is the most valuable service for most people in the modern internet.
2 (01:10) **Idea #1: Reviving Sports Illustrated as a Daily Sports Newsletter** - Lieberman pitches a "Morning Brew for sports" using Sports Illustrated's distressed assets.
3 (08:27) **Framework: The Hub-and-Spoke Model for Distressed Assets** - Lieberman explains the strategy of latching onto existing distribution hubs.
4 (13:58) **Warning Signs & Opportunity: Distressed Legacy Media** - Lieberman identifies the specific conditions that make legacy media assets ripe for this "hub-and-spoke" model.
5 (19:09) **Idea #2: A Modern Weight Watchers for the Ozempic Generation** - Lieberman pitches a community-based weight loss program for 20-30 somethings.
6 (28:47) **Broader Trend: The Rise of Peer Groups** - Lieberman identifies a macro-trend of businesses capitalizing on peer group dynamics.
7 (33:10) **Idea #3: G2 for B2B Creators (Personality-Driven Software Reviews)** - Lieberman pitches a platform for founders to share their "software stack" with affiliate links.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

I'm joined by Alex Lieberman, Co-founder & Executive Chairman of Morning Brew. We discuss some of the hottest trends and opportunities for entrepreneurs in 2024, how creators can successfully monetize their newsletter and the best ways to innovate an existing business.

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Episode Timestamps

00:00 Why content curation is a superpower
01:00 First business idea: The new Sports Illustrated
08:21 How to monetize a newsletter
13:21 How to rejuvenate an existing business
19:09 Second business idea: A modern-day Weight Watchers
28:30 Trend to watch out for: In-person peer groups
35:14 Third business idea: Software recommendations for entrepreneurs
40:17 Fourth business idea: Content curation as a service
52:19 Where to find Alex