meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders

King of Podcasts Tells Us How He Launched 5, Made Millions, with Alex Blumberg of Gimlet Media

SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders

Nathan Latka

Ceo, Entrepreneurs, Founders, Software, Business, Entrepreneurship, Saas, Startups

4.6683 Ratings

🗓️ 1 February 2016

⏱️ 22 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Ep 164 Alex Blumberg, the host of StartUp and CEO and co-founder of Gimlet Media. Listen as Nathan and Alex talk about the Freedom Journal, a notebook designed for users to set and accomplish their goals effectively.

YOUR $100: Remember to subscribe to the show on itunes then text the word "nathan" to 33444 to confirm that you've done it to enter to win $100 every Monday on the show. Do this now. Stop reading this and do it!

Click here to join the top tribe and instantly learn how Nathan made his first $10k at 19 years old: http://nathanlatka.com/startertribelive

Top Entrepreneurs join Nathan Latka daily inspired by, Art of Charm, Pat Flynn, John Dumas, Entrepreneur on Fire, Chalene Johnson, Lewis Howes, School of Greatness, HBR Podcast, the StartUp podcast, Mixergy, Andrew Warner, AskGaryVee, and the great hosts of BiggerPockets!

3 Key Points:

  • As podcasts grow as a medium, expect to see an increase in production value and overall quality.
  • Advertising on podcasts is extremely straightforward because sponsors can clearly evaluate how many people they’re reaching.
  • For even seasoned veterans like Alex, creating a quality podcast can take a lot of time, money, and manpower (6 months, 100K, varied staff).

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:00 – Nathan’s introduction to today’s show
  • 01:37 – Alex joins the show
  • 01:49 – Gimlet is a digital media company that focuses primarily on audio.
  • 02:27 – Alex and his team at Gimlet has raised 6 million for the business.
  • 04:08 – His podcast StartUp generates revenue through ads.
  • 06:05 – Alex estimates that his CPM on this podcast is higher than the average radio station.
  • 06:28 – As podcasts as a medium mature, Alex expects them to grow in production value.
  • 07:05 – Alex describes his 6-month process when creating a new podcast. 
  • 07:55 – It takes roughly 100K from start to finish when making the first episode.
  • 09:18 – Alex’s old colleagues from his career in public radio have come to work at Gimlet.
  • 10:40 – Each individual show produced by Gimlet Media generally has its own team.
  • 13:22 – Alex uses SoundCloud to keep track of listeners for a particular audio.
  • 14:39 – Advertising on podcasts is very straightforward and works well for Alex’s sponsors.
  • 15:49 – Sponsors advertise in accordance to a contract with Alex’s podcasts.
  • 17:09 – Alex makes over 1 million dollars per podcast.
  • 19:16 – Famous Five

Resources Mentioned:

  • Growth Geeks – The way Nathan hires growth hackers on a per project basis for things like info graphics, blog posts, and other growth projects
  • Gimlet Media – Alex’s business
  • @abexlumberg – Alex’s twitter
  • LinkedIn – Alex’s LinkedIn
  • Creativity Inc. – Alex’s favorite book
  • Mark Zuckerberg – CEO Alex follows
  • Steve Jobs – CEO Alex follows
  • Google Docs – Online tool John uses.

Famous 5

  • Favorite Book?— Creativity Inc. – by Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace
  • What CEO do you follow?— Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg
  • What is your favorite online tool?— Google Docs
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
  • If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?—Be more patient.

Listen to The Top if you want to hear from the worlds TOP entrepreneurs on how much they sold last month, how they are selling it, and what they are selling - 7 days a week in 20 minute interviews! Join the Top Tribe at http://NathanLatka.com/TheTop

The Top is FOR YOU if you are:

A STUDENT who wants to become the CEO of a $10m company in under 24 months (episode #4)

STUCK in the CORPORATE grind and looking to create a $10k/mo side business so you can quit (episode #7)

An influencer or BLOGGER who wants to make $27k/mo in monthly RECURRING revenue to have the life you want and full CONTROL (episode #1)

The Software as a Service (SaaS) entrepreneur who wants to grow to a $100m+ valuation (episode #14).

Your host, Nathan Latka is a 25 year old software entrepreneur who has driven over $4.5 million in revenue and built a 25 person team as he dropped out of school, raised $2.5million from a Forbes Billionaire, and attracted over 10,000 paying customers from 160+ different countries.

 

Oprah gets 60 minutes or more to make her guests comfortable to then ask tough questions. Nathan does it all in less than 15 minutes in this daily podcast that's like an audio version of Pat Flynn's monthly income report. Join the Top Tribe at http://NathanLatka.com/TheTop

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This is the top, where I interview entrepreneurs who are number one or number two in their industry in terms of revenue or customer base.

0:09.0

You'll learn how much revenue they're making, what their marketing funnel looks like, and how many customers they have.

0:16.0

I'm now at $20,000 per talk.

0:18.0

Five and six million.

0:19.0

He is hell-bent on global domination. We just broke our 100,000 units sold mark Five and six million. He is hell bent on global domination.

0:21.2

We just broke our 100,000 unit sole mark.

0:23.9

And I'm your host, Nathan Latka.

0:27.6

Okay, Top Tribe, this week's winner of the 100 bucks is none other than Derek Roddenbeck.

0:35.2

He is an artist and he's looking to increase his revenue.

0:40.0

If you want your chance to enter and to win 100 bucks each Monday on the show,

0:44.8

simply subscribe to the podcast on iTunes now and then text the word Nathan to 33444 to prove that you did it.

0:52.8

Again, text the word Nathan to 33444. All right, guys, Alex

0:58.9

truly is a game changer and so is our guest tomorrow. He's 25. His name is Nahal Kazim and his

1:04.9

revenue goal was 600K this year. His plan, fire or get fired. Okay, Top Drive. Good morning. I am here at Capitol Factory

1:14.6

with my coffee in my hands. I'm excited and I think you're going to enjoy our host today or our guest

1:19.2

today. His name is Alex Bloomberg. Many of you probably know him. He's the host of startup and CEO and

1:24.7

co-founder of Gimlet Media. He's also an award-winning radio journalist.

1:30.3

Prior to Gimlet, he was the producer of This American Life and the co-founder of Planet Money.

1:35.7

Alex, are you ready to take us to the top?

1:38.1

I am.

1:38.9

All right, let's do this.

1:40.1

So first things first, for those folks that maybe are new to podcasting and new listeners of podcasts, give us the 60 cent over you.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Nathan Latka, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Nathan Latka and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.