The $70 Million Breakthrough No One Saw Coming with Austin Rief

In this episode of Entrepreneurial Excellence, we sit down with Austin Rief, Co-Founder and CEO of Morning Brew, to uncover the story behind its rapid rise and the strategies that fueled its success. From starting as a side project in 2015 to becoming a top business media brand generating $70 million in revenue, Austin shares the journey of building Morning Brew into what it is today.

Austin discusses the evolution of Morning Brew, including its rebranding, expansion into professional verticals, and the strategic sale of a majority stake to Axel Springer in 2020. 

He explains how they balance growth, content strategy, and creator diversity while staying laser-focused on serving their audience and advertisers. 

Tune in to hear how Austin Rief and his team turned Morning Brew into a household name in business media and what it takes to build a successful, innovative company in today's competitive landscape!

Key Topics:

• Morning Brew's origin and growth journey
• Rebranding and expansion into new markets
• Decision to sell and future plans for the company
• Leadership, team building, and managing growth
• Key advice for entrepreneurs to keep learning

Quote From The Episode: 

" I was of the mindset of the best thing we can do to attract the best talent is to build the best company "

- Austin Rief

Timestamp:

[00:00] Podcast Intro

[01:04] Austin shared the story of how Morning Brew evolved from a college side project into a thriving multimedia business with over 20 franchises.

[09:04] He walked Adam through how Morning Brew spots opportunities to launch new brands by focusing on niche markets, understanding audience engagement, assessing advertiser potential, and addressing gaps in B2B content.

[19:35] Austin highlighted Morning Brew's competitive edge—its powerful and well-established distribution network.

[31:10] He also pointed out that scaling people is often the toughest challenge when it comes to building and growing a company.

[39:54] Austin explained that outsourcing and leveraging global talent have become key strategies for scaling businesses efficiently.

[50:15] He wrapped up by emphasizing the importance of having a laser-sharp focus on a single core metric—building, growing, and selling Morning Brew's newsletter.

[1:05:00] Outro

Connect with Austin Rief:

LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/austin-rief

Website - MorningBrew.com

X- @austin_rief

Instagram- @austinrief

Connect to Entrepreneurial-Excellence:

Website - https://www.levy.company/entrepreneurial-excellence