Alex Blumberg explains why he decided to leave NPR to build Gimlet Media as a venture-backed, for-profit podcast network rather than staying in public media.
Insight
Blumberg: Media founders undervalue institutional support behind their success
“I think I was a risky venture. You know, like, there's not that many places that are set up to, like, take that kind of risk. Even though I didn't feel like a risk, even though I felt like, well, I know how to do this, and, like, obviously I've done it before,…”
Opinion
Blumberg: NPR was sitting on financial gold with Planet Money
“I felt like we were sitting on gold. I felt like we, they recognized the editorial gold, but I felt like we were sitting on financial gold with Planet Money, and people love it, and it's brand new, and it's different, and they're consuming it in a different wa…”
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.”
Assertion Supported
Blumberg: Planet Money Sold 20,000 T-Shirts and Raised Nearly $600,000
“We sold, like, 20,000 t-shirts. We made, like, almost 600,000 dollars.”
Disclosure
Blumberg: Recording the Startup podcast was originally a marketing ploy
“So I had to do something that was going to attract attention to what we were doing, and I figured, like, okay, a guy recording himself trying to start a company. That'll be good. It was like a marketing ploy.”
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.”