Modernized HARO Platform
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Sam proposes modernizing and improving HARO (Help a Reporter Out), a platform that connects journalists with sources. The current platform has 1.5M subscribers but appears stagnant with minimal innovation despite being acquired by Cision.
Key Points:
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Current HARO Model:
- Journalists submit requests for sources with deadlines
- Users receive daily emails with journalist requests
- Sources respond to get backlinks or press coverage
- Platform generates revenue through paid access
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Opportunity for Improvement:
- Current platform lacks innovation
- Has proven demand with 1.5M subscribers
- Already generates revenue
- Platform "floating around" without significant updates
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Modernization Potential:
- Build better connection system between reporters and sources
- Improve on existing email-based distribution
- Create more efficient matching system
- Leverage existing demand from both journalists and sources
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Validation:
- Reporters already approaching Hampton (Sam's current business) looking for founder connections
- Demonstrated need for better source-journalist matching
- Existing successful business model to build upon
The idea suggests taking a working but dated platform concept and modernizing it for current needs, building on proven demand and existing revenue model.
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.