StarZero All shows Try the podcast clipper →

Matt Lieber

Co-Founder, Heap's Ice Cream · 1 appearance on the record.

computed by AI from the episodes · how this works → · full disclaimer →

founderexecutiveoperator@mlieber ↗gimletmedia.com ↗

Lieber co-founded narrative podcast company Gimlet Media with Alex Blumberg in 2014 and served as its president through its acquisition by Spotify in 2019. After departing Spotify in 2022, he co-founded Brooklyn-based Heap's Ice Cream alongside chef Sarah Sanneh.

8statements → 2claims → 0claims resolved → 3.88/5average certainty → 1.75/5average debate potential → 4said about them ↓

2 not checkable as stated how the 2 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

2 assertions · 1 opinion · 4 insights · 1 disclosure · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertions are the 2 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 0 are resolved, and 2 name no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how Matt argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

How they sound: not measured why? →

We measure speaking style by listening to the audio itself, and a fair number needs at least 2,000 words from one person on tape we have measured. There is too little of Matt Lieber on measured tape to publish a rate. This says nothing about how they speak.

Everything Matt Lieber said on How I Built This that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Insight
Lieber: Podcasting needed better discovery and analytics to reach full potential
“There were two, like, Basically, industry-level challenges that we were confronting along with every other podcast company, and one was audiences are still having a really hard time discovering new podcasts. Like, if you ask people how they find out new podcas…”
Matt Lieber Oct 21, 2019 ▶ 1:07:24 Gimlet Media: Alex Blumberg and Matt Lieber
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Lieber: Many of the world's most popular podcasts use This American Life's sound
“Which is funny, because now, like, a significant portion of the most popular podcasts on earth are this sound, but at the time, it was really weird.”
Matt Lieber Oct 21, 2019 ▶ 15:49 Gimlet Media: Alex Blumberg and Matt Lieber
Insight
Lieber: Every new medium produces new defining media companies
“Every time a new medium comes about, New media companies get built. This is true across the last, you know, hundred years of history, and I thought someone will build a defining media company around on-demand digital audio”
Matt Lieber Oct 21, 2019 ▶ 41:59 Gimlet Media: Alex Blumberg and Matt Lieber
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Lieber: Three major public radio stations passed on investing in Gimlet
“When we first started the company, when we were out pitching to raise money, we pitched the company to probably three of the biggest public radio stations. And none of them invested.”
Matt Lieber Oct 21, 2019 ▶ 1:00:24 Gimlet Media: Alex Blumberg and Matt Lieber
Insight
Lieber: Wealth from selling Gimlet didn't bring happiness, but brought safety
“Well, I'm really f***ing rich, and it turns out money doesn't make you happy. But it does make you safe.”
Matt Lieber Oct 21, 2019 ▶ 1:09:51 Gimlet Media: Alex Blumberg and Matt Lieber
Opinion
Matt Lieber: Gimlet's Success Came Primarily From Luck, Privilege, and Timing
“I think it's mostly luck but not in the obvious way. Like, I think I think for me it was the luck of, like, being born into the family I was born into at the time that I was. So I had the luck of being in a family where my parents sent me, like, paid for my co…”
Matt Lieber Oct 21, 2019 ▶ 1:11:46 Gimlet Media: Alex Blumberg and Matt Lieber
Disclosure
Lieber: Gimlet initially planned to reach profitability on its $1.5M seed round
“Well, when we raised the first million and a half dollars of financing, our plan was that that would take us through to profitability, and then we would fund our growth through profits.”
Matt Lieber Oct 21, 2019 ▶ 54:29 Gimlet Media: Alex Blumberg and Matt Lieber
Insight
Lieber: Each podcast functions as an individual business requiring upfront investment
“Because the way the podcasts work is you launch a podcast, and when you launch it has an audience of zero. But you have to pay the people to make the podcast, and they're going to work for you for a few months before you're able to launch. And then once the po…”
Matt Lieber Oct 21, 2019 ▶ 56:47 Gimlet Media: Alex Blumberg and Matt Lieber

The other half of the tape: Matt Lieber's own voice is left out of every number here. Other people bring the name up 2 times in 1 episode on How I Built This. 2 statements on the record name them. every mention, with the transcript →

Who brings them up most Guy Raz 2

Statements about Matt Lieber, by other people (2)

Disclosure
Blumberg: Initially offered co-founder Matt Lieber only 1% to 10% equity
“I think it was, I think I said in the range of one to 10. I'm key to the success of the company, and I want to feel I want to feel that that is reflected in the cap table, I guess.”
Alex Blumberg Oct 21, 2019 ▶ 48:21 Gimlet Media: Alex Blumberg and Matt Lieber
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Blumberg: No investors offered funding until Matt Lieber joined Gimlet
“Nobody was offering me money until, I literally, nobody, I don't think anybody offered money until Matt and I teamed up. I think when I was doing it by myself, I didn't even get to that point.”
Alex Blumberg Oct 21, 2019 ▶ 40:43 Gimlet Media: Alex Blumberg and Matt Lieber

Every mention by year

tap a year for its mentions
0011212023episodesmentions
0112023episodes it came up in
0010.5212023episodesmentions per episode
2023 2 mentions in 1 episode

Appearances (1)

EpisodeDateSpeaking time
Gimlet Media: Alex Blumberg and Matt Lieber Oct 21, 2019 17m
Made with StarZero

Turn any episode into a week of clips.

This entire site, over 800 episodes transcribed, diarized, checked and made playable, runs on the StarZero media pipeline. Drop in your own episode and the podcast clipper finds the moments worth sharing, cuts them, captions them, and reframes them for every feed.

Try the podcast clipper Learn more