Ben Lerer's Acquisition Dismissal
Share
Sam Parr shares a story about being dismissed by a successful founder who underestimated the potential of his newsletter business.
"In 2016, I get an email or maybe I cold emailed Ben Lerer who started this thing called Thrillist which became Group Nine, like a billion dollar company, and he's one of the co-founders of Lerer Hippeau, which is one of the most preeminent VCs in New York.
We start talking and I think he's gonna buy The Hustle right out the gate. I'm thinking, 'Hell yeah, like $5,000,000!' That's how much I have right now already. I thought the offer is gonna happen, and he brings in the president of the company and it turns into an interview.
I was like, 'Oh, I thought you were gonna buy us.' He's like, 'Brother, this is a newsletter. This will never make more than like $2,000,000 a year.' I said, 'Well, I don't know man, if you do the math...' He was like, 'No, you should come and join us. We're a real company. If you want to make this work, you have to join our company.'
That has forever been a chip on my shoulder."
Sam Parr
Host of MFM and fitness influencer
Sam Parr is a serial entrepreneur and business media pioneer.
In 2016, he founded The Hustle, a business news media company that started in his kitchen with just $12 and grew to eight figures in revenue.
Sam led the charge in making newsletters popular when few believed in their potential.
After four successful years, he sold The Hustle to HubSpot, a publicly traded company. Now operating as HubSpot Media, The Hustle reaches 3 million readers daily, employs a team of nearly 100, and has been the launchpad for dozens of its staff to found their own media companies and newsletters.
Sam remains the host of the popular business podcast, My First Million, and continues to start and sell companies. He also co-founded Hampton, a highly vetted community for entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs, and teaches people to write better through his platform, Copy That.