What This CEO Taught Me About Building in Public

Apr 18

I LOVE listening to podcasts. It's one of the reasons why I started Jen Next Door. I'm a non stop listener, which at a certain point they all start to sound the same. But... this episode woke me up!

I just found this episode from "505 Podcast" featuring Tyler Denk, CEO of beehiiv. OMG! This is one of those conversations that sticks with you.

If you're building anything online, or just a business owner wanting to start an email list. This one hits hard!

Check it out here!

I want to break down my key takeaways for you:

The Big Idea - Own Your Audience:

At the core of everything Tyler shared is a simple but powerful belief: You don’t own your audience on social platforms. You DO own your email list. That’s why beehiiv is doubling down on newsletters as the hub:

Content
Monetization
Distribution
All in one place.

Emails have been around for years. It's not a sexy flashy thing but it works and it's something we should all take into account. You can advertise to your audience, grow, and scale because you will have all eyes on your emails. Unlike social media, you don't know who is actually seeing it.

Write Like a Human (Not a Brand):

One of the best reminders Tyler gives is to write for "one person". Most likely that person will be YOU! The most successful newsletters aren’t overly polished with big amounts of data. The voice is personable. Leave "perfection" to AI. People can see it a mile away.

I personally love reading newsletters from people that write like we are best friends. They are also short and sweet, where I can collect the important information and move on quickly.

Your Way to Growth:

Tyler broke down what’s actually working right now:

Tease your newsletter on other platforms
Cross-promote with other creators
Pay for distribution when it makes sense
Build a network, not just an audience
And one underrated channel? LinkedIn

I totally agree. LinkedIn doesn't seem to be used by a lot of people but I know when I post I get interactions. That means, people ARE on LinkedIn watching from the sidelines. They just don't post as much. We need to tap into that audience more.

Monetization Is Built In beehiiv:

This is where things get interesting. beehiiv lets creators:

Turn on monetization instantly
Network with other newsletters - recommendations
Choose which ads to run
Provides survey forms
Grow and earn in the same place

He's also using Model Context Protocol integration backed by AI. The beehiiv MCP lets tools like Claude/ ChatGPT/ Gemini securely connect to your account and analyze your content, audience, and performance.

Additionally, they are working on podcasting and digital product selling. This is great! I hate going to all types of different platforms to get all my needs met. From email collecting, website, podcasting hosting, social media, AI tools. who knows what else I need. It's always something. I'm glad he's looking into making it a more streamlined place.

The Power of Transparency:

This was the most compelling parts of the episode. Tyler is building "in public".

He has this newsletter for potential investors and family/friends. He goes over what has gone well and what’s not been working that month. He pulls results and numbers so they can know what is going on in the company.

That level of transparency does a few things:

It builds trust with the investors
It attracts the right opportunities
It speeds up momentum (his Series A closed in 6 days)

He is not spending extra hours of his day, getting coffee with each individual. He is building that relationship month by month when he sends that newsletter.

On the audience side... He is letting people behind the curtain of the day-to-day. People don’t want the “10-year hindsight story.” They want to watch it unfold and grow along side you. Like the GoDaddy story he told: CRAZY!

I am ALL about transparency. That might be coming from my anxious tendencies. I just want to feel safe knowing what is truly going on. I can then make educated decisions based on facts and not my own crazy thoughts. That's just me.

Fundraising Reality Check:

He was very honest about his experience with the funding journey. I appreciate that conversation. The first seed funding took a little bit because the angel investors weren't ready to give money out until he had a lead investor. The lead investors weren't ready until they saw another lead investor.

Once you get your first one. The others feel safer to join. This is all about momentum attracts momentum. If you are willing to go through those early hurdles, you will see the rewards after. Don't give up. You just need 1 person who believes in you and the rest will follow. After that, everything accelerates.

Also side note, this goes back to transparency but he lets the audience see his Series B deck... if they sign up for his email. hahha I think that's genius!

Unfiltered Founder Mindset:

Tyler didn’t sugarcoat it:
Being a CEO means constant pressure
There are always threats to the business
Even a domain outage can take everything down overnight
It’s intense. It’s messy.