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 enactment for podcasts and selling integer products.

In different words, beehiiv is astir much than newsletters now. Co-founder and CEO Tyler Denk (who writes a fashionable startup newsletter of his own) spoke to TechCrunch astir wherefore the institution has been expanding, explaining that it was mostly successful effect to lawsuit demand, peculiarly since beehiiv offered precise basal blog templates from the start.

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

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

That doesn’t, however, mean that Denk thinks the opportunities for caller newsletters person dried up. “Quality contented volition ever emergence to the top,” helium predicted, and determination mightiness beryllium adjacent much accidental arsenic the 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 the rebels of integer content.” What bash you mean by that?

I got the inspiration from the president of Shopify [about] arming the rebels of integer commerce — I deliberation that’s what helium said.

The committedness of the creator system is taking powerfulness from institutions, giving it to individuals, and allowing them to succeed. Going backmost done who really had the means of organisation and powerfulness previously, and present this caller distributed, autarkic media world, wherever a batch of radical spell to their favourite podcasters oregon contented creators for information, wherever it utilized to beryllium the large TV and vigor programs.

And [there’s a] democratization of information, but besides the quality for radical to win connected the net by creating contented is perpetually evolving. I deliberation the trends are starting to accelerate a spot more. The latest predetermination twelvemonth showed a batch astir what really moved the 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 oregon different accepted outlets, wherever these radical person built up these idiosyncratic brands, they person their beat, they cognize their assemblage truly well, and they really present person the tools and capabilities to spell independent. I deliberation that’s inspiring and amusive and interesting, and ideally, we tin beryllium portion of the toolkit to assistance empower them.

Although 1 of the absorbing things astir beehiiv is that you’re moving with these idiosyncratic creators, but you’re besides moving with larger publications similar TechCrunch, and you’ve got adjacent much bequest publications connected the platforms arsenic well. What is it similar trying to physique a level that serves those antithetic needs?

It’s a large question, and it’s really wherefore we led with this tagline during our event: the operating strategy of the contented economy. Because I don’t privation to beryllium painted into conscionable the creator economy. And we bash service TechCrunch and Time and Newsweek and each of these ample publishers, and we service them highly well, conscionable arsenic we service the agelong process of contented creators truly well. 

There has to beryllium immoderate commonality successful that, and it’s conscionable [that] contented is what makes their concern run, and that we deliberation we tin truly beryllium the operating strategy and assistance them win successful doing that. My thesis from mode backmost erstwhile I was astatine Morning Brew, and I was the 2nd employee, I built each of their interior infrastructure and helped them scale. And erstwhile we were gathering Morning Brew, we had 3 cardinal readers astatine a time, and each of these autarkic journalists and writers and smaller outlets came to america being like, “We privation the aforesaid toolkit that you have.” All the mode down to idiosyncratic who’s penning [for] 10 people, their champion friends and their ma and similar that.

The archetypal thesis for beehiv was: Can we physique endeavor level bundle similar we built astatine Morning Brew, that immoderate of these ample publishers would privation … but marque it affordable for the agelong process of everyone to person entree to that? So that’s however we recovered ourselves successful this weird spot of existent enterprise-level software, wherever my member launched a UFC newsletter past week with 5 radical [reading] it, and determination he’s utilizing the aforesaid toolkit that Time is using, and TechCrunch.

It makes it much hard connected the merchandise selling broadside of things, PR is much difficult, however we speech astir our users is difficult, due to the fact that they are cohorted, but I inactive judge they each privation the aforesaid thing. Ultimately, it’s a seamless acquisition to make content, but besides [to] turn faster and marque much money. And if we tin bash those 3 things and play nicely with the different tools successful their tech stack, it’s usually the 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 present person this AI website builder. Was that ever the absorption you wanted to spell in, oregon did that travel later?

So no, I’d accidental astir of the 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 precise quickly.

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

We rolled retired from time 1 a precise basal website builder — I wouldn’t adjacent telephone it a website builder, it’s similar a blog template that you had by default. All of our users were like, “Hey, this is great, I similar utilizing your email stuff, [but] my blog looks similar everyone else’s. It’s terrible. It’s not customizable. I privation to merchantability courses. I privation to cod leads. I privation much flexibility connected my website.”  So that led america to acquiring TypeDream — they were a YC institution to code that need, arsenic radical wanted amended websites. Then, you know, you springiness an inch, they inquire for a mile. We physique this caller website builder, and we launched it successful July, and radical [say], “That’s amazing, present I’m really utilizing you guys for my website, but there’s things I had connected WordPress oregon Wix that I could bash that I present can’t do, similar booking time, selling integer products, courses, embeds, each that benignant of stuff.” 

We motorboat thing to code a need, and that opens up a broader market. And I deliberation our superpower extracurricular of listening to users is truly conscionable merchandise velocity and engineering. If we deliberation we tin service these users amended than anyone else, [it’s] conscionable the earthy march to the adjacent happening 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 oregon newsletters oregon whatever, you inevitably commencement adding things and, I wouldn’t person thought of beehiiv being competitory with Patreon a mates years ago, but it feels similar each creator level yet becomes competitory with each the others, due to the fact that you’re trying to bash each these antithetic things.

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

I bash deliberation you’re going to spot this diagnostic creep of consolidation crossed the creator stack and contented stack. My stake is, email is precise hard to do. There’s tons of infrastructure, it’s precise analyzable astatine scale. I deliberation it’s 1 of the much competitory wedges, due to the fact that it’s the means of communication. And I’m making the stake that we tin spell into website, link-in-bio, courses, assemblage amended than they could spell the different way. 

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

It’s harder to quantify, but it’s the merchandise prime and excellence. There’s a batch of platforms, adjacent extracurricular the creator economy, that I usage connected a day-to-day basis, which aren’t the top software. One happening I’ve been saying a batch precocious is, I privation beehiiv to beryllium the astir delightful merchandise that anyone uses connected a day-to-day basis, and I deliberation we person an accidental to marque it conscionable an enjoyable experience.

[Also,] astir of the creator businesses are instrumentality complaint businesses, and we don’t instrumentality a chopped 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 determination 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 inactive committed to that thought of that you’re not going to beryllium taking a chopped of immoderate of these gross streams? Or could you ideate immoderate scenarios wherever possibly the halfway merchandise has SaaS pricing, but there’s antithetic merchandise lines and concern models?

Our extremity is to not complaint a instrumentality complaint connected anything, lone the subscription fee.

In your post, you talked astir this thought that, particularly earlier this year, you wanted to enactment a batch of vigor into expanding marque awareness. I unrecorded successful New York, truthful I’ve seen a batch of the beehiiv ads connected the subway. How palmy bash you consciousness similar those ads person been?

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

And I deliberation the merchandise contiguous is 10x what it was backmost then. We’re truly acceptable for the 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 selling and growth.

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

Philosophically, I deliberation we’re going successful a precise antithetic absorption than Substack, but due to the fact that of erstwhile we launched, we’re ever compared to them. And [with their] archetypal mover advantage, they decidedly person much of the marque name. We request to marque up immoderate crushed there.

Even though beehiiv has go much disposable this year, it does consciousness similar Substack has truly done this astonishing occupation of making their sanction astir synonymous with the thought of: You’re going to commencement a work astir your idiosyncratic brand, and it’s going to beryllium newsletter-centric, that’s a Substack. Is that thing that worries you? Do you privation much of that mindshare?

Yeah, for sure. We decidedly privation the apical of mind, and we decidedly privation the mindshare there. [But] similar I said, we’re going successful 2 precise antithetic directions. I deliberation they’re trying to physique a societal provender to vie with X and Threads and Instagram and Bluesky and each of that. We are conscionable tools and infrastructure.

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

We are precise overmuch the Shopify — tools and infrastructure successful the inheritance to assistance enactment these contented businesses. We’re not having radical motorboat beehiivs. We are simply conscionable the tools and infrastructure to assistance 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 privation a blogging level and possibly Substack’s the amended acceptable for them, but I deliberation we tin some coexist and win here.

I besides privation to speech much astir however you’ve seen the media concern germinate and however you ideate it mightiness evolve. Like you said, it’s this truly breathtaking infinitesimal due to the fact that anyone who’s had immoderate grade of occurrence could conceivably spell nonstop and commencement their ain happening and bring immoderate of their assemblage with them. It besides feels similar this is simply a clip wherever radical are doing that due to the fact that the fig of accepted opportunities — determination aren’t arsenic galore of them arsenic determination utilized to be.

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

And besides what we’re seeing from the Morning Brew and theSkimm days is that the equation for newsletter utilized to be: How bash you turn arsenic accelerated arsenic you perchance can, get a cardinal subscribers, merchantability 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 due to the fact that determination are tools that you tin bash paid subscriptions directly, truthful you’re not relying connected Google AdSense, there’s the assemblage play, there’s integer products, there’s courses, there’s events.

Beehiiv plays a tiny portion successful that, but determination is simply a overmuch much established ecosystem of tools that makes it possible. If you tin find your 1,000 existent fans, you tin physique a real, sustainable concern disconnected of that. I don’t cognize if that was the lawsuit five, 10 years ago.

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

Saturation has ever been the astir absorbing question, due to the fact that ever since we raised our effect round, radical 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, the world’s massive, and I deliberation that you tin carve retired a niche successful immoderate contented category. Two, I deliberation the astir prime contented volition ever emergence to the top.

So, sure, there’s tons of tech writers, right? What’s the unsocial position and bushed and entree and immoderate that looks like, and however is it packaged successful a mode that’s unique? Yes, it’s decidedly getting much crowded, but I deliberation everything is getting much crowded. Quality volition inactive emergence to the top, and I deliberation that there’s capable radical and capable concern models successful the satellite to beryllium capable to differentiate.

You mentioned this thought of the champion contented rising to the top. I ever anticipation that’s true, but this situation of lasting retired — due to the fact that of however the scenery has changed, each the worldly that’s happened with Twitter/X, it feels truthful overmuch much fragmented than it utilized to be.

Do you spot there’s much accidental successful the information that determination is present Mastodon, YouTube Reels, TikTok, Bluesky? It’s much fragmented, but that’s besides much opportunities and touchpoints to scope people. I deliberation there’s astir much of a menace successful being overreliant connected aged Twitter, wherever it had specified a dominance implicit the mainstream zeitgeist of what was going on, and by being shadowbanned oregon limited, immoderate the algorithm wanted to determine to provender oregon 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 oregon it could beryllium much accidental to scope antithetic audiences.

Intellectually, I deliberation that having galore antithetic platforms with somewhat diminished powerfulness seems amended for the world, but I besides recognize that I don’t trust connected those platforms successful the aforesaid mode 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 the occurrence stories radical are looking for is not conscionable tin radical commencement thing to enactment themselves, but really physique the newsroom of the aboriginal 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 the astir caller illustration that comes to mind. He near CNN, launched his ain thing, present has 2 radical connected the 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 question is: Thinking astir the creator economy, the media system 10 years from now, however is it going to beryllium antithetic from today?

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

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