Professional Database Creation
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RELX (formerly Reed Elsevier) has built a highly profitable business model around owning and monetizing specialized databases and information services, particularly in scientific and legal sectors.
Key Components:
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Scientific Journal Publishing
- Pay researchers/doctors minimal fees ($500) for articles
- Charge universities significant fees for access
- Generate massive margins ($4B revenue, $3B profit)
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Legal Information Services
- Own LexisNexis platform
- Maintain databases of:
- 1B+ legal records and documents
- 135M patent documents
- 88M+ legal documents through Lex Machina
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Industry-Specific News Services
- Law360: Daily newsletter for lawyers
- Similar to The Hustle but specialized for legal industry
Business Model Advantages:
- High profit margins
- Recurring revenue from institutions
- Control valuable proprietary databases
- Lock-in through comprehensive coverage
- Low cost content acquisition relative to monetization
This model demonstrates how owning and monetizing specialized information through databases and subscriptions can create an extremely profitable business with strong competitive moats.
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.