How I went from $0 to $1M in 12 months
About This Episode
Tyler Denk, founder of Beehiiv, joins the pod to detail the specific roadmap he used to scale his newsletter platform from zero to $30 million in revenue within four years. The episode breaks down actionable growth strategies including the 'marketing kill shot' for credibility, maintaining high product velocity by shipping marketable features weekly, and leveraging 'unscalable' manual outreach to convert early adopters into superfans.
Episode Description
Show Notes
- 0:00Intro
- 5:10The marketing kill shot
- 7:52launch a company with one story
- 10:56getting your first 100 users
- 15:28the underrated customer question
- (1812) one feature
- 21:597-min customer interviews
- 25:57message from the founder
- 29:10big desk energy
- (3239) 1 marketable feature
- 35:19death of a co-founder
- 37:02write monthly investor updates
- 41:00everyone is distribution
- 43:10school of common sense
- 44:39inherent virality
- 45:23don't make people think
- (5016) the 20-mile approach
Check Out Shaan's Stuff
- Shaan's weekly email
- Visit
- Mercury - Need a bank for your company? Go check out Mercury (mercury.com). Shaan uses it for all of his companies!
- Mercury is a financial technology company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust, Members FDIC
- I run all my newsletters on Beehiiv and you should too + we're giving away $10k to our favorite newsletter, check it out:
- beehiiv.com/mfm-challenge
Check Out Sam's Stuff
Key Takeaways
Develop a 'marketing kill shot'—a single sentence of undeniable proof or past success—to instantly establish credibility and cut through industry noise when pitching to customers or investors.
Commit to a 'marketable feature' cycle by shipping at least one update every week that is impactful enough to warrant a social media post, effectively turning product development into a consistent engine for brand awareness.
Utilize high-friction manual processes in the early stages, such as personally vetting and approving new users, to create opportunities for direct DMs and relationship-building that transform initial customers into vocal brand advocates.