Conversation with Alex Lieberman

Jul 13, 2024

Conversation with Alex Lieberman

Key Themes

  • Personal transformation after the sudden passing of Alex's dad
  • Career journey from finance to entrepreneurship
  • Building and growing Morning Brew
  • Selling Morning Brew to Business Insider
  • Emotional and mental challenges post-acquisition
  • Finding purpose and dealing with procrastination

Personal Transformation

  • Alex's dad passed away suddenly from a stroke at 49
  • Realization of the unimportance of daily worries
  • Awareness of life's unpredictability
  • Inspired a reevaluation of life priorities

Career Background

  • Grew up in a finance-centric family
  • Interned at Morgan Stanley, worked in sales and trading
  • Always aspired to work on Wall Street due to family influence

Building Morning Brew

  • Started as a daily business roundup called Market Corner
  • Aimed to make business news accessible and engaging
  • Involved students and a voice editor for content
  • Grew newsletter initially through pitches at University of Michigan
  • Launched a successful college ambassador program

Growth and Strategy

  • Focus on making content relatable and easy to understand
  • Early stages involved heavy manual processes (e.g., collecting email sign-ups on paper)
  • Shifted strategy to scaling via college ambassador programs

The Sale to Business Insider

  • Initial terms in 2019; deal completed in October 2020
  • Affected by COVID-19 pandemic but eventually closed
  • Emotional reaction to the sale was unexpectedly neutral
  • Life post-sale: no major changes in personal spending

Life Post-Sale

  • No increase in happiness despite financial windfall
  • Struggles with identity and purpose after stepping down as CEO
  • Focus on finding new motivations and exploring new career possibilities

Procrastination and Efficiency

  • Two types: non-work to avoid work, and wrong work to avoid important work
  • Switching from feeling inefficient to finding purpose in procrastination
  • Procrastination seen as part of the creative process

Mental Health and Therapy

  • Therapy for emotional awareness and processing
  • Reflecting on life experiences and dealing with past traumas
  • Importance of finding a therapist who aligns well with personal needs

Key Takeaways

  • Financial success doesn’t equate to personal happiness
  • Importance of intrinsic motivation and finding one's true calling
  • Balancing hard work with smart work to avoid procrastination

Notable Quotes

  • “Most things we worry about in life are wildly unimportant.”
  • “Your time on your life countdown clock—you have no idea when it’s gonna hit zero.”
  • “Financial success doesn't make you any more happy.”

Recommendations

  • Book: Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull
  • Importance of storytelling and selling as a foundational skill

Additional Resources