How he built a $20M/year newsletter with Tim Huelskamp of 1440 (Just Go Grind, Episode #355)

Episode 355: Justin Gordon interviews Tim Huelskamp, Co-Founder and CEO of 1440, about how he built 1440 into a $20M+/year business and a newsletter with more than 4.5 million subscribers.

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This episode is brought to you by Rho. With Rho, founders get:

• A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale.
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• The big thing with Rho: Every customer has a "person" at Rho. 24/7 customer support - phone, text, email - we will be there at every critical milestone in your startup's journey.

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This episode is also brought to you by TRIBE. TRIBE is a community for fast-growing early to mid-stage entrepreneurs. It includes facilitated peer groups of 6, retreats, guest speakers, book club, forums, and more. Qualifications: Entrepreneurs generally doing between $500k and $15 million per year in revenue.

Apply to TRIBE today and save $300 off the yearly membership price when you mention Just Go Grind!

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Show Notes:

00:00 What's coming in the episode…

1:18 Introduction

2:32 Where is 1440 now?

4:11 The story behind 'Topics'

12:30 How did Tim know 1440 had product market fit?

15:07 How do they get user feedback

16:32 'Topics' monetization

21:28 1440 vs AI

25:49 Founding 1440

27:27 Partnering with Co-Founder Andrew Steigerwald

31:09 The first year of experimentation

35:34 Tim's investment in 1440

37:18 Start of advertising

39:00 Funding 1440

45:33 How much of revenue is reinvested in growth

49:36 The team at 1440

51:40 How does AI fit into 1440?

53:36 Where's the opportunity for a new media company today?

58:20 Reach out to Tim Huelskamp

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Connect with Justin:

• Twitter: https://x.com/justingordon212
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincharlesgordon/

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What Justin is working on:

• Just Go Grind Newsletter: https://www.justgogrind.com/subscribe
• Running (Strava): https://www.strava.com/athletes/52394979
• Hiring: https://partnerslink.athyna.com/pod
• Scouting: https://headline.com/