Morning Brew

Executive Chairman

📖 The Founder's Journal is my daily diary, made public for the world. 

☕ In this podcast, I discuss the wins, losses, and most important moments of my day as CEO of Morning Brew. 

⌚ All in 15 minutes or less.

Host of Founder's Journal (Podcast)

Morning Brew is a new media company bringing you informative and digestible business news. We educate 2,200,000 readers on the latest news from Wall Street to Silicon Valley, daily.

Let us occupy a little space in your inbox every morning.

MicroAcquire

Investor

Bark Social

SoleSavy

Something Navy

The PepTalk Co.

Advisor

April Labs

Building technology to automate home rentals

Morgan Stanley

Traded number of agency mortgage products: conventional pass-throughs, specified pools and agency CMBS

Licenses: Series 7 and Series 63

Agency MBS Trader

Summer Analyst in Securitized Products and Municipal Bond Trading

FID Sales and Trading: Summer Analyst

Consider Magazine

A point/counter-point publication

www.consideronline.org

Executive Creative Director

Rihanna was the first female billionaire to perform a Super Bowl half-time show. 

What you probably don't realize is most of her money didn't come from music.  

Here are 5 lessons any entrepreneur can learn from the Barbadian icon:

-CHECK OUT TODAY'S EPI OF THE CRAZY ONES FOR THE FULL BREAKDOWN-

In 2017, Rihanna launched Fenty Beauty, a brand now worth >$2.8 billion. 

Fenty's success is mindblowing. Some stats: 

• Rihanna's stake is worth $1.4 billion
• $550 million in sales in Year 1
• Doubled revenue in 2022
• #fentybeauty has 2.2 billion views on TikTok

So how did Fenty get so big so quickly?

And how can you apply these learnings? 

Keep reading for:
1) Power of deal structure
2) What makes creator brands successful
3) Build for large, forgotten audiences
4) Create a movement
5) Be okay with strikeouts & singles

Rihanna launched Fenty Beauty at 29.

The cosmetics brand was developed with Kendo, LVMH's incubator, and first went on sale in LVMH-owned Sephora stores.  

LVMH paid ~$10 million to do the deal & ownership of the brand is split 50% LVMH, 50% Rihanna.

But before we talk about the product, let's discuss the deal structure. 

Because of her equity upside in Fenty, nearly 80% of Rihanna's $1.8 billion net worth comes from the beauty brand. 

Keep reading for a mind-blowing comparison...

Take Nike's Jordan Brand. 

Since 1984, his rookie year, Michael Jordan has pocketed 5% of all Jordan sales. 

That's $10-12 per shoe. 

In 2022, Jordan did $5.1 billion in revenue, earning him ~$256.1 million. 

MJ is doing just fine, but imagine if he had Rihanna's economics!

Okay back to RiRi. 

Why did Fenty 📈 when other creator brands 📉? 

3 words: creator-market fit. 

Rihanna is a fashion icon. 
- 2011: announced fashion venture with Armani
- 2014: named Creative Director of Puma
- 2015: named new face of Dior

Fenty is authentically Rihanna.

But here's a spicy take. 

Fenty would have succeeded regardless of Rihanna.

Because it's a 10x product for a large, forgotten audience. 

Fenty disrupted an underrepresented cosmetics industry by launching products with 40+ shades. 

The brand finally offered "Beauty for All."

Fenty didn't just solve a big problem. 

It created a global movement: "The Fenty Effect."

Following its "Beauty for All" campaign & launch of inclusive makeup, Fenty created a chain reaction of inclusive beauty. 

CoverGirl, Dior, and others began carrying 40+ shades of makeup.

If you're reading this & thinking: "Everything went right, Rihanna must have caught lightning in a bottle." 

You would be wrong. 

Rihanna has been trying her hand at business since she launched her first fragrance, Reb'l Fleur, in 
January 2011. 

Don't believe me?

'05: starts Westbury Road
'05: deal w/ Secret
'11: face of Nivea/Vita Coco
'12: first TV show
'13: MAC collab
'15: co-owner of Tidal 
'15: starts Fr8me, beauty agency
'16: Puma collab

She's taken many at-bats, some strikeouts, some singles, all of which informed Fenty's success.

Alex Lieberman

Sorry to those I'm about to offend. 

I went to SXSW this weekend & was shocked.

Here's why...

We're in the middle of a recession. 
Markets down. 
Funding dried. 
Layoffs up. 

Yet Austin was PACKED & people were partying as if we live in an alternate reality.

I have to think conference attending can't be the best use of most Founders time right now.

I’ve felt imposter syndrome for 8 years straight.

- I felt it building Morning Brew.
- I feel it hosting a podcast.
- And despite selling my biz, I still feel it building a 2nd biz.

I know it’s not going anywhere, so I’ve just developed skills to not let it hold me back.

My 16-min episode of The Crazy Ones goes deep on Imposter Syndrome 👇 

Rihanna is the 🐐 . 

Subscribe to The Crazy Ones on YouTube or where you get your podcasts to hear the full story of Rihanna's business success. 

I feel like a kid in a candy shop. 

The Plunge is plunging. 

- Website ready for launch
- Email automations set up 
- Ad creative designed
- Facebook audiences set up

Let's do this thing.

#1 podcast in Business. 

Let's goooooooooo 🚀☕️

This business takes the mess out of cooking.

Would you invest? Comment below IN or OUT 👇 

If you’re down to pitch your business in a unique way let me know.

I’m talking pitching from an ice bath.

Or while running on a treadmill.

Or while skydiving.

Or while holding your breath.

Or from top of Mt Everest

Or while getting your logo tattooed 

Or while jet skiing 

Or while in zero gravity 

Or while operating a bulldozer

Everyone's been waiting for it. 

A daily business podcast that doesn't suck. 

People have begged Austin Rief & I for it since literally 2015. 

Well...we finally gave in. 

Morning Brew Daily is a daily talk show that covers the latest news in business in a fun, witty way. 

Sit back & let Neal Freyman & Toby Howell give you the news you need to know in the way you need to hear it.

Links below 👇 

Not to get all sentimental...

But getting my first $1 reservation on Stripe for my backyard game biz was a magical experience.

My heart wants to build B2C.
My head wants to build B2B.

This amazing entrepreneur went from unemployed at 43 to successful entrepreneur doing $4,000,000 in revenue. 

Would you invest in her business? 

Reply below IN or OUT 👇 

Scrappiness is a gift & a curse.

Why it’s a gift:
- you learn every skill before delegating
- it forces a default to action mindset 
- you can stretch a dollar very far

Why it’s a curse:
- creates a scarcity mindset that’s not always helpful
- you risk taking on low leverage tasks
- you feel every part of the emotional rollercoaster

This is Morning Brew's most watched YouTube video ever. 

It's hilarious & answers one very simple, very important question...

What the f*ck do consultants do? 

Take a watch below 👇 

Calling all content creators.

I came up with an idea.

I created a viral backyard game (The Plunge) but can only create so much content myself.

I want to open source content for this game.

If you’re a creator and want to create viral content for your account using The Plunge, DM me.

FYI this is the game 👇 

Founders should be required to learn copywriting.

Here’s why…

Startups are defined by scarcity.
- scarce money
- scarce time

To survive you need attention.

And to attract attention you need to know how to storytell.

Copywriting is THE SKILL that makes you a great storyteller.

And I don’t just mean writing. 

Copywriting helps with all forms of storytelling:
- pitching investors 
- leading meetings with employees
- recording vids for social
- selling customers

If you’re not interested in being good at any of those things, def don’t learn copywriting.

Getting your first 1,000 users can be hard as hell. 

So here's a timeless growth framework: the Hub & Spoke Model

Spokes = power users
Hubs = channels that give you access to many users at once

When picking growth strategies early on, ask yourself:

"What hubs most efficiently connect me to the most spokes?"

Per Lenny Rachitsky, here are 7 major hubs: 

1) Offline channels (events, classes, HOAs)
2) Online channels (subreddits, PH, Kickstarter)
3) Friends (group chats, listservs)
4) FOMO (referral programs, waitlists)
5) Influencers 
6) Press
7) Community

Owner of Pornhub, Brazzers, and Redtube bought by...wait for it...Ethical Capital Partners?!?!? You can’t make this up.

If you've been on Shark Tank or almost made it on Shark Tank, shoot me a DM. 

I want to have you on 60 Second Startup and feature your biz to 500k+ people.

This entrepreneur sells >$10,000,000 of samurai swords every year.

- It’s his 8th business (7 others failed)
- He’s 26
- He’s autistic 

5 lessons to learn from his business 👇 

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