Beehiiv’s Ceo Isn’t Worried About Newsletter Saturation

Newsletter level beehiiv precocious celebrated its four-year anniversary by launching a suite of caller features, including an AI website builder, arsenic good arsenic support for podcasts and trading integer products.

In different words, beehiiv is astir much than newsletters now. Co-founder and CEO Tyler Denk (who writes a celebrated startup newsletter of his own) said to TechCrunch astir why nan institution has been expanding, explaining that it was mostly successful consequence to customer demand, peculiarly since beehiiv offered very basal blog templates from nan start.

“All of our users were like, ‘Hey, this is great, I for illustration utilizing your email stuff, [but] my blog looks for illustration everyone else’s. It’s terrible. It’s not customizable. I want to waste courses. I want to cod leads. I want much elasticity connected my website,’” Denk recalled. “So that led america to acquiring TypeDream — they were a YC institution to reside that need, arsenic group wanted amended websites. Then, you know, you springiness an inch, they inquire for a mile.”

This does mean beehiiv is becoming much competitory pinch different creator platforms, moreover nan ones that weren’t needfully focused connected newsletters. Indeed, Denk predicted that we’ll spot much of “this characteristic creep of consolidation crossed nan creator stack and contented stack.”

That doesn’t, however, mean that Denk thinks nan opportunities for caller newsletters person dried up. “Quality contented will ever emergence to nan top,” he predicted, and location mightiness beryllium moreover much opportunity arsenic nan societal media scenery becomes much fragmented.

Read a transcript of our conversation, edited for magnitude and clarity, below.

You’ve repeated this quote that beehiv is “arming nan rebels of integer content.” What do you mean by that?

I sewage nan inspiration from nan president of Shopify [about] arming nan rebels of integer commerce — I deliberation that’s what he said.

The committedness of nan creator system is taking powerfulness from institutions, giving it to individuals, and allowing them to succeed. Going backmost done who really had nan intends of distribution and powerfulness previously, and now this caller distributed, independent media world, wherever a batch of group spell to their favourite podcasters aliases contented creators for information, wherever it utilized to beryllium nan large TV and power programs.

And [there’s a] democratization of information, but besides nan expertise for group to win connected nan net by creating contented is perpetually evolving. I deliberation nan trends are starting to accelerate a spot more. The latest predetermination twelvemonth showed a batch astir what really moved nan needle for votes and everything else. You’re seeing this monolithic wave. 

This year, we’ve seen tons of these journalists, whether it’s from The Washington Post aliases different accepted outlets, wherever these group person built up these individual brands, they person their beat, they cognize their assemblage really well, and they really now person nan devices and capabilities to spell independent. I deliberation that’s inspiring and nosy and interesting, and ideally, we tin beryllium portion of nan toolkit to thief empower them.

Although 1 of nan absorbing things astir beehiiv is that you’re moving pinch these individual creators, but you’re besides moving pinch larger publications for illustration TechCrunch, and you’ve sewage moreover much bequest publications connected nan platforms arsenic well. What is it for illustration trying to build a level that serves those different needs?

It’s a awesome question, and it’s really why we led pinch this tagline during our event: nan operating strategy of nan contented economy. Because I don’t want to beryllium painted into conscionable nan creator economy. And we do service TechCrunch and Time and Newsweek and each of these ample publishers, and we service them highly well, conscionable arsenic we service nan agelong tail of contented creators really well. 

There has to beryllium immoderate commonality successful that, and it’s conscionable [that] contented is what makes their business run, and that we deliberation we tin really beryllium nan operating strategy and thief them win successful doing that. My thesis from measurement backmost erstwhile I was astatine Morning Brew, and I was nan 2nd employee, I built each of their soul infrastructure and helped them scale. And erstwhile we were building Morning Brew, we had 3 cardinal readers astatine a time, and each of these independent journalists and writers and smaller outlets came to america being like, “We want nan aforesaid toolkit that you have.” All nan measurement down to personification who’s penning [for] 10 people, their champion friends and their mom and for illustration that.

The first thesis for beehiv was: Can we build endeavor level package for illustration we built astatine Morning Brew, that immoderate of these ample publishers would want … but make it affordable for nan agelong tail of everyone to person entree to that? So that’s really we recovered ourselves successful this weird spot of existent enterprise-level software, wherever my relative launched a UFC newsletter past week pinch 5 group [reading] it, and location he’s utilizing nan aforesaid toolkit that Time is using, and TechCrunch.

It makes it much difficult connected nan merchandise trading broadside of things, PR is much difficult, really we talk astir our users is difficult, because they are cohorted, but I still judge they each want nan aforesaid thing. Ultimately, it’s a seamless acquisition to create content, but besides [to] turn faster and make much money. And if we tin do those 3 things and play nicely pinch nan different devices successful their tech stack, it’s usually nan winning formula.

Image Credits:beehiiv

You mentioned your caller motorboat event, wherever my takeaway was that beehiiv is not conscionable a newsletter institution anymore — astir notably, you now person this AI website builder. Was that ever nan guidance you wanted to spell in, aliases did that travel later?

So no, I’d opportunity astir of nan roadmap really conscionable comes from feedback from our users. I deliberation our superpower is, we perceive to our users amended than anyone other does, and we really enactment connected it very quickly.

If you asked maine 4 years ago, [I’d say] we’re nan champion newsletter level that has this advertisement web that tin democratize entree to premium advertising, benignant of for illustration what YouTube did for video. But we tin do that for email, and that intends brands for illustration Nike and Netflix being capable to sponsor each of these different newsletters, and these newsletters having entree to brands they different ne'er would person had. And I deliberation that’s really exciting, and that’s a large imagination successful itself, and it’s still portion of nan vision. 

We rolled retired from time 1 a very basal website builder — I wouldn’t moreover telephone it a website builder, it’s for illustration a blog template that you had by default. All of our users were like, “Hey, this is great, I for illustration utilizing your email stuff, [but] my blog looks for illustration everyone else’s. It’s terrible. It’s not customizable. I want to waste courses. I want to cod leads. I want much elasticity connected my website.”  So that led america to acquiring TypeDream — they were a YC institution to reside that need, arsenic group wanted amended websites. Then, you know, you springiness an inch, they inquire for a mile. We build this caller website builder, and we launched it successful July, and group [say], “That’s amazing, now I’m really utilizing you guys for my website, but there’s things I had connected WordPress aliases Wix that I could do that I now can’t do, for illustration booking time, trading integer products, courses, embeds, each that type of stuff.” 

We motorboat thing to reside a need, and that opens up a broader market. And I deliberation our superpower extracurricular of listening to users is really conscionable merchandise velocity and engineering. If we deliberation we tin service these users amended than anyone else, [it’s] conscionable nan earthy march to nan adjacent point that tin service them.

One facet of this inclination is that immoderate level that’s has immoderate benignant of creator instrumentality — if you’re focused connected 1 area, whether that’s subscriptions aliases newsletters aliases whatever, you inevitably commencement adding things and, I wouldn’t person thought of beehiiv being competitory pinch Patreon a mates years ago, but it feels for illustration each creator level yet becomes competitory pinch each nan others, because you’re trying to do each these different things.

I’ve been saying it recently: I deliberation there’s going to beryllium immense consolidation successful nan creator space. I don’t cognize if that’s done companies going retired of business, aliases M&A aliases merging, aliases what, but we’ve already seen immoderate of nan accepted creator system platforms expand. Maybe they were link-in-bio, and past they motorboat a website builder, aliases possibly they were courses and community, but past they motorboat a newsletter aliases an email platform. 

I do deliberation you’re going to spot this characteristic creep of consolidation crossed nan creator stack and contented stack. My stake is, email is very difficult to do. There’s tons of infrastructure, it’s very analyzable astatine scale. I deliberation it’s 1 of nan much competitory wedges, because it’s nan intends of communication. And I’m making nan stake that we tin spell into website, link-in-bio, courses, organization amended than they could spell nan different way. 

Obviously, you judge you person nan champion product. But is location thing other astatine nan halfway that you deliberation makes beehiiv different from those different platforms?

It’s harder to quantify, but it’s nan merchandise value and excellence. There’s a batch of platforms, moreover extracurricular nan creator economy, that I usage connected a day-to-day basis, which aren’t nan top software. One point I’ve been saying a batch precocious is, I want beehiiv to beryllium nan astir delightful merchandise that anyone uses connected a day-to-day basis, and I deliberation we person an opportunity to make it conscionable an enjoyable experience.

[Also,] astir of nan creator businesses are return complaint businesses, and we don’t return a trim of revenue, whether it’s paid subscriptions, integer products, appointments, sales. That’s conscionable our ethos: We don’t judge [that] by connecting Stripe and doing that arsenic a middleman, that we should beryllium taking a 10% fee.

We move quickly, not conscionable retired of necessity, but we deliberation our users person a batch of needs, and we tin service them quicker and better. I deliberation that shines done successful what we’re building.

As you germinate and grow into these different areas, are you still committed to that thought of that you’re not going to beryllium taking a trim of immoderate of these gross streams? Or could you ideate immoderate scenarios wherever possibly nan halfway merchandise has SaaS pricing, but there’s different merchandise lines and business models?

Our extremity is to not complaint a return complaint connected anything, only nan subscription fee.

In your post, you talked astir this thought that, particularly earlier this year, you wanted to put a batch of power into expanding marque awareness. I unrecorded successful New York, truthful I’ve seen a batch of nan beehiiv ads connected nan subway. How successful do you consciousness for illustration those ads person been?

That time, successful particular, was decidedly nan astir maturation we’ve ever seen — really going all-in connected marque and trying to make a statement.

And I deliberation nan merchandise coming is 10x what it was backmost then. We’re really fresh for nan mainstream, to beryllium capable to service a overmuch wider cohort of users. I’d expect much of that successful Q1 [of adjacent year.] I deliberation we’re going to spell overmuch harder into trading and growth.

I mean, nan job’s ne'er done connected nan merchandise side. There’s ever things we tin improve. But I deliberation nan product’s successful a awesome spot wherever we tin support and person users and proceed to present our committedness to them. Now we request everyone successful New York and everyone who has nan ambition to build thing connected their own, astir their content, to cognize precisely who we are arsenic a company.

Philosophically, I deliberation we’re going successful a very different guidance than Substack, but because of erstwhile we launched, we’re ever compared to them. And [with their] first mover advantage, they decidedly person much of nan marque name. We request to dress up immoderate crushed there.

Even though beehiiv has go much visible this year, it does consciousness for illustration Substack has really done this astonishing occupation of making their sanction almost synonymous pinch nan thought of: You’re going to commencement a publication astir your individual brand, and it’s going to beryllium newsletter-centric, that’s a Substack. Is that thing that worries you? Do you want much of that mindshare?

Yeah, for sure. We decidedly want nan apical of mind, and we decidedly want nan mindshare there. [But] for illustration I said, we’re going successful 2 very different directions. I deliberation they’re trying to build a societal provender to compete pinch X and Threads and Instagram and Bluesky and each of that. We are conscionable devices and infrastructure.

The affinity I ever usage is Amazon versus Shopify. You spell to Amazon, there’s millions of third-party sellers, but you don’t really cognize who they are. The third-party sellers don’t get nan data. The user goes done nan Amazon app, nan Amazon website, [their order] shows up successful an Amazon box. It’s very Substack — going done their app, they return power complete nan scholar experience, you’re giving up a batch of power and data.

We are very overmuch nan Shopify — devices and infrastructure successful nan inheritance to thief support these contented businesses. We’re not having group motorboat beehiivs. We are simply conscionable nan devices and infrastructure to thief them succeed. And I deliberation that that is appealing to a ample information of users. There’s immoderate who conscionable don’t attraction and conscionable want a blogging level and possibly Substack’s nan amended fresh for them, but I deliberation we tin some coexist and win here.

I besides want to talk much astir really you’ve seen nan media business germinate and really you ideate it mightiness evolve. Like you said, it’s this really breathtaking infinitesimal because anyone who’s had immoderate grade of occurrence could conceivably spell nonstop and commencement their ain point and bring immoderate of their assemblage pinch them. It besides feels for illustration this is simply a clip wherever group are doing that because nan number of accepted opportunities — location aren’t arsenic galore of them arsenic location utilized to be.

Definitely, it’s an absorbing marketplace and predicament. I deliberation nan positive broadside is, we’ve seen connected our platform, location are truthful galore successful, quote-unquote, “no name,” mini creators that are conscionable being calved — that screen a topic, whether it’s EVs aliases crypto aliases AI, that person really built a very successful business.

And besides what we’re seeing from nan Morning Brew and theSkimm days is that nan equation for newsletter utilized to be: How do you turn arsenic accelerated arsenic you perchance can, get a cardinal subscribers, waste monolithic sponsorships. [Whereas now] we person a farming newsletter that has 2,500 subscribers and makes $15,000 a month. So there’s a batch of powerfulness successful niche content, and that is because location are devices that you tin do paid subscriptions directly, truthful you’re not relying connected Google AdSense, there’s nan organization play, there’s integer products, there’s courses, there’s events.

Beehiiv plays a mini portion successful that, but location is simply a overmuch much established ecosystem of devices that makes it possible. If you tin find your 1,000 existent fans, you tin build a real, sustainable business disconnected of that. I don’t cognize if that was nan lawsuit five, 10 years ago.

You answered this a small bit, but fto maine inquire a related question. As a tech journalist who has, erstwhile aliases twice, toyed pinch nan thought of starting thing connected my own, I conscionable instantly think, “God, location are truthful galore tech journalists who’ve started Substacks aliases different newsletters.” It feels for illustration nan model for that is closed. Do you interest that we’re approaching nan saturation constituent — if not needfully everywhere, past astatine slightest successful definite sectors?

Saturation has ever been nan astir absorbing question, because ever since we raised our seed round, group thought we were [at] highest email backmost then. Peak email comes each week, apparently.

But I besides deliberation we person much podcasts than ever, much video content, UGC, and actually, professionally done, precocious accumulation video. But nary 1 ever says [we’re at] highest Netflix, ever. This is 1 of those things where, one, nan world’s massive, and I deliberation that you tin carve retired a niche successful immoderate contented category. Two, I deliberation nan astir value contented will ever emergence to nan top.

So, sure, there’s tons of tech writers, right? What’s nan unsocial position and hit and entree and immoderate that looks like, and really is it packaged successful a measurement that’s unique? Yes, it’s decidedly getting much crowded, but I deliberation everything is getting much crowded. Quality will still emergence to nan top, and I deliberation that there’s capable group and capable business models successful nan world to beryllium capable to differentiate.

You mentioned this thought of nan champion contented rising to nan top. I ever dream that’s true, but this situation of opinionated retired — because of really nan scenery has changed, each nan worldly that’s happened pinch Twitter/X, it feels truthful overmuch much fragmented than it utilized to be.

Do you spot there’s much opportunity successful nan truth that location is now Mastodon, YouTube Reels, TikTok, Bluesky? It’s much fragmented, but that’s besides much opportunities and touchpoints to scope people. I deliberation there’s almost much of a threat successful being overreliant connected aged Twitter, wherever it had specified a power complete nan mainstream zeitgeist of what was going on, and by being shadowbanned aliases limited, immoderate nan algorithm wanted to determine to provender aliases not feed, you’re really a small spot much susceptible successful that situation.

There’s 2 sides to each coin, right? It could beryllium scarier aliases it could beryllium much opportunity to scope different audiences.

Intellectually, I deliberation that having galore different platforms pinch somewhat diminished powerfulness seems amended for nan world, but I besides recognize that I don’t trust connected those platforms successful nan aforesaid measurement that, say, a sole proprietor of a newsletter would trust connected them for uncovering an audience.

That said, I besides wanted to inquire astir this spectrum from Time to TechCrunch to individuals. One of nan occurrence stories group are looking for is not conscionable tin group commencement thing to support themselves, but really build nan newsroom of nan early connected these kinds of platforms. Is that thing you’ve seen connected beehiiv? 

Yeah, plenty. We person a batch of newsletter autochthonal companies that person started — Status and Oliver Darcy is nan astir caller illustration that comes to mind. He near CNN, launched his ain thing, now has 2 group connected nan team. [Or three, depending connected how you’re counting.] I deliberation they’re going to motorboat an further vertical. 

There’s plentifulness of newsletters who started disconnected arsenic a hobbyist newsletter that scaled to 50,000, 100,000 subscribers, recovered immoderate revenue, and expanded beyond conscionable one-person teams. 

My past mobility is: Thinking astir nan creator economy, nan media system 10 years from now, really is it going to beryllium different from today?

I’m not predicting thing crazy, but personification asked maine my predictions for 2026, and I conscionable deliberation each nan trends are conscionable going to proceed successful nan aforesaid direction. I don’t deliberation it’s going to beryllium a measurement usability change, but I really deliberation pinch AI, nan tailwinds are, one, location will beryllium immoderate level of occupation displacement astatine immoderate point. And wherever do you differentiate yourself if you’re a mid-level PM? If I’m hiring a merchandise manager, I’m astir apt hiring a merchandise head who has put their thoughts retired into nan internet, and I cognize precisely who they are, what they deliberation about, what they value, and I tin really resonate [more] pinch them than different faceless PM who’s applying for nan job.

So I deliberation leaning much into individual marque storytelling and this quality relationship will beryllium much important than ever arsenic AI proliferates. Whether that shows up successful email and web and podcasts and video, astir apt each of nan above, I really deliberation there’s going to beryllium a larger value placed connected putting your sound and yourself retired location to really differentiate, some successful nan workforce and broadly.