Founder's Journal
Alex Lieberman, the co-founder and Executive Chairman of Morning Brew, gives you an insider’s look into building businesses. Alex explores the founder’s journey, from the painful challenges of 0-to-1 to the powerful frameworks that help you scale to millions in revenue as well as the emotional rollercoaster that is present throughout.
Episodes
April 16, 2024 • 33 mins
Episode 129: On today’s episode I discuss my decision to step down as CEO of Morning Brew. I chat about going from a Chapter 1 to a Chapter 2 CEO, the emotional journey after stepping down, and climbing out of the trough of sorrows.
Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea! foundersjournal@morningbrew.com
#FoundersJournal #Startups #Entrepreneur
Listen to Founder’s Journal here: https://link.chtbl.com/OV4W93_W
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April 9, 2024 • 27 mins
Episode 128: On today’s episode of Founder’s Journal, I talk through the sale of Morning Brew. I chat about how the opportunity came about, why we said no to previous potential deals, why I thought selling the business was the right decision, and if I have any regrets reflecting on the decision today.
Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea! foundersjournal@morningbrew.com
#FoundersJournal #Startups #Entrepren...
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April 2, 2024 • 21 mins
Episode 127: On this episode of Founder’s Journal, I break down the exact strategies we used to acquire our first 10,000 newsletter subscribers and abstractable growth lessons you can apply to your business.
Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea! foundersjournal@morningbrew.com
#FoundersJournal #Startups #Entrepreneur
Listen to Founder’s Journal here: https://link.chtbl.com/OV4W93_W
Watch Founder’s Journal h...
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March 29, 2024 • 28 mins
Episode 126: Today I discuss my biggest takeaways from a Fortune 500 CMO dinner I hosted, choosing between freelancers vs. full-time employees, lessons in storytelling from Shaan Puri, the importance of following your energy, and joining the board of a non-profit.
Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea! foundersjournal@morningbrew.com
#FoundersJournal #Startups #Entrepreneur
Listen to Founder’s Journal here:...
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March 27, 2024 • 23 mins
Episode 125: In today’s episode I chat about being in a content creation slump, making an impact as an entrepreneur, and why you never know if it is the right time to go all in on your business.
Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea! foundersjournal@morningbrew.com
#FoundersJournal #Startups #Entrepreneur
Listen to Founder’s Journal here: https://link.chtbl.com/OV4W93_W
Watch Founder’s Journal here: https:/...
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March 26, 2024 • 21 mins
Episode 124: Today we’re throwing it back with a true journal style episode. I talk about the joys of finding product market fit, being a default-trusting founder, and understanding extrinsic vs. intrinsic drivers.
Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea! foundersjournal@morningbrew.com
#FoundersJournal #Startups #Entrepreneur
Listen to Founder’s Journal here: https://link.chtbl.com/OV4W93_W
Watch Founder’s J...
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March 22, 2024 • 20 mins
Episode 123: On this episode, I share a recent blog post by my friend and former colleague, Tyler Denk. Tyler is the co-founder & CEO of beehiiv, a high-growth email newsletter platform. This post outlines Tyler’s philosophy on building a team and culture that allows your company to ship features at lightning speed. His insights are valuable not just for technical founders, but for any entrepreneur who wants to better empathize wit...
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March 20, 2024 • 13 mins
Episode 122: Lulu Meservey is the former Chief Communications Officer of Activision Blizzard and Substack. This episode, I read her recent manifesto, which details the importance of founders crafting their narrative, learning how to communicate, and going direct to their audiences via social media.
Original essay: https://www.rostra.co/
Send us an email and let us know what you think of the idea! foundersjournal@morningbrew.com
...
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March 18, 2024 • 28 mins
Episode 121: Writer, Columbia Business School grad, and college athlete Jack Raines' essay, "The Opportunity Cost of Everything," forces readers to ask themselves the only question that really matters: If I was nearing the end of my life, would I be happy with how I am currently spending my time? It is a question that any human being must ask themselves periodically, but I find that it is especially relevant for entrepreneurs. Ther...
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March 15, 2024 • 18 mins
Episode 120: Andrew Wilkinson is the co-founder and CEO of Tiny, a publicly traded holding company trying to be Berkshire Hathaway but for internet companies. In 2007, Andrew started a Canada-based design agency called MetaLab, which grew to $40-50 million in revenue & $20 million in profit. After trying and failing to launch other businesses, Andrew pivoted to buying businesses to grow his holding company. I’m going to read a stor...
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March 13, 2024 • 26 mins
Episode 119: LTV, or lifetime value, has become the gold standard for startups, specifically how they measure the effectiveness of their various marketing channels. LTV does have merit, and it is a helpful proxy to prioritize marketing and understand the economics of each customer you acquire, but if relied on entirely, it can be misleading at best and harmful to your business at worst. I’ve found what I believe to be one of the be...
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March 11, 2024 • 35 mins
Episode 118: Million Dollar Weekend, by Noah Kagan, the founder & CEO of AppSumo, walks you through the step-by-step process for building a 7-figure business in 48 hours. I know it sounds too good to be true, and no, you’re not going to make $1 million in 2 days, but after reading the book, I can promise you that you will have a repeatable process for going from business idea to revenue in 48 hours and understanding if it has the p...
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March 8, 2024 • 26 mins
Episode 117: Just under 13 years ago, Marc Andreessen proclaimed that software would transform every industry. He couldn’t have been more right; software did eat the world. 7 of the 10 largest companies in the world today are technology or software businesses, and Andreessen Horowitz, the investment firm Marc founded in 2009, grew to become the largest VC in the world. Today, we’re going to be reading Andreessen’s 2011 essay to und...
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March 6, 2024 • 14 mins
Episode 116: I found one of the best resources on hiring by one of the most well-respected founders and early-stage investors, Elad Gil. In this episode, I'll be reading highlights from the Hiring chapter of Elad’s startup book, High Growth Handbook, and cover job descriptions, interview questions, candidate scoring, work projects, building a diverse team, and more.
Original essay: https://growth.eladgil.com/book/recruiting/recrui...
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March 4, 2024 • 27 mins
Episode 115: Today’s essay breaks down one of the best business strategy books I’ve ever read.
Startup founder Abi Tunggal breaks down 7 Powers by Hamilton Helmer, which is a book about the seven proven business strategies that lead to sustained competitive advantage for companies. By the end of this episode, you’ll understand each of these strategies, why they created powerful moats, and examples of companies (like Apple, Netflix,...
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March 1, 2024 • 25 mins
Episode 114: Yesterday, Snowflake announced that its CEO, Frank Slootman, was retiring. Slootman, former CEO of Data Domain and ServiceNow, is such a successful and well-respected CEO that Snowflake's stock was down 24.5% or $17 billion. In honor of Slootman’s amazing leadership, defined by high standards and high intensity, I’m reading an article he wrote in 2018 about how he runs his companies.
Original essay: https://www.linked...
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February 28, 2024 • 35 mins
Episode 113: Today’s read is by one of my favorite startup creators, Lenny Rachitsky. The essay, How To Kickstart & Scale a Consumer Business, breaks down the seven proven strategies to acquire your first 1,000 users as a B2C startup. I’m going to read through each of the strategies, share some examples that Lenny provides, and provide some of my own thoughts on early growth.
Original essay: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/cons...
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February 26, 2024 • 17 mins
Episode 112: Today’s read was recommended by my buddy Sam Parr & it was written by Jason Cohen, a serial entrepreneur who has built 4 businesses, resulting in 2 exits and 2 unicorns. The essay is called Rich vs. King in the Real World & it explores Jason’s decision to sell his business, the unexpected criticism he received from friends & colleagues, and why he believes it was ultimately the right thing for him.
Original essay: htt...
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February 23, 2024 • 25 mins
Episode 111: In today's episode, I talk about transitioning from early-stage founder to late-stage CEO. I read the essay, The second job of a startup CEO by Ali Rowghan, Managing Director at Y Combinator, the former COO of Twitter, and CFO of Disney. Ali breaks down the three distinct jobs of a startup CEO and how to go from being a stage 1 doer-in-chief to a stage 2 company-builder-in-chief.
Original Essay: https://www.ycombinato...
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February 21, 2024 • 17 mins
Episode 110: On today’s episode, I am going to break down 17 startup principles by Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI & former President of YCombinator.
The essay is called What I Wish Someone Had Told Me & as I read the piece I found myself nodding from beginning to end. Sam managed to bottle up so many thoughts & experiences that I’ve had as an entrepreneur, but never articulated in such a clear way.
Original Essay: https://blog.sama...
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