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New Media

New Media

Written by: Matt McGarry and Kolby Hatch
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New Media is a podcast for founders and creators building independent media businesses. We explore how to grow and monetize audiences without depending on algorithms, advertising, and platforms you don't control. Each episode shares practical insights on building profitable media and education businesses.


A GrowLetter podcast, hosted by Matt McGarry and Kolby Hatch.

© 2026 Grow Letter Media, LCC
Economics Leadership Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • This Guy Makes $1,500,000 PER MONTH From Texting
    Jun 4 2026

    Matt Paulson (MarketBeat) joins Matt and Kolby to talk about the SMS playbook that's now 25% of MarketBeat's revenue, why he pays Twilio $400K a month to make it work, and the case for treating digital media as a depreciating asset he'll shut down at 65 rather than sell.


    Timestamps:

    • 00:00 Intro
    • 03:30 SMS Is The New Email
    • 06:00 SMS Is Now 25% Of MarketBeat's Revenue ($1.5M+/Month)
    • 10:00 Promoting Advertiser Offers Over Your Own
    • 13:30 $100 Paid Webinars That Sell $2,500/Month Coaching
    • 14:30 SMS Sunsetting, Short Codes, And Deliverability
    • 17:00 Confirming Phone Numbers To Avoid TCPA Lawsuits
    • 19:00 SMS Tech Stack And Twilio's $400K/Month Bills
    • 23:00 Why Newsletters Are Still Worth It (Gmail's March 20 Change)
    • 28:00 Multi-Channel: Spending $500K/Month On Meta Ads
    • 33:00 The Co-Reg Wars: IMS vs AfterOffers
    • 35:00 Every Tech Company Will Eventually Buy A Media Company
    • 38:00 Why MarketBeat Won't Be Sold Or Acquired
    • 41:00 Beehiiv, Substack, And ESP Feature Bloat
    • 46:00 Marketers Matt Watches: Hormozi, Sanchez, Deiss
    • 50:00 Where to Find Matt Paulson


    📌 Resources:

    • MarketBeat
    • AfterOffers
    • The Email Copywriter (Chris Orzechowski)


    🔗 Connect with Matt Paulson:

    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter/X


    Leave a 5-star review on Apple or Spotify, then email matt@growletter.co or kolby@growletter.co with a screenshot and a question — we'll answer it on the show.

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    44 mins
  • HubSpot Spent $100M on Creators — Here's Why (With Jonathan Hunt VP of HubSpot Media & Head of The Hustle)
    May 27 2026

    Jonathan Hunt (VP of HubSpot Media) joins Matt and Kolby to talk about how HubSpot built a 50M-reach owned-media network, the four-part test they run on every acquisition (Hustle, Mindstream, Starter Story, Futurepedia), and why they killed every audio-only podcast on the network.

    Timestamps:

    • 00:00 Intro
    • 03:33 Why HubSpot Buys Media Companies
    • 04:45 What HubSpot Media Actually Is (65 People, 3 Pillars)
    • 07:15 The Editorial Thesis Behind Every Acquisition
    • 12:26 The HubSpot Acquisition Test: 4 Criteria
    • 14:53 Inside HubSpot's 150-Creator Program
    • 22:24 Co-Creating Brands With Creators
    • 25:06 Why HubSpot Went YouTube First
    • 30:41 The Ad Fatigue Problem (And How They Solved It)
    • 33:01 Scott Galloway and the Native Lead Magnet Play
    • 36:15 How HubSpot Reinvests Profits Into Growth
    • 39:46 Minority Report-Level Attribution
    • 42:00 Why HubSpot Killed Audio-Only Podcasts
    • 43:12 Reactions: Puck, TBPN, Sherwood, A16Z
    • 51:31 Why HubSpot Won't Launch a Net-New Live Show
    • 53:47 Where to Find Jonathan

    📌 Resources:

    • Mindstream
    • Starter Story
    • Futurepedia
    • HubSpot Creator Program

    🔗 Connect with Jonathan:

    • LinkedIn


    Enjoying the show?
    Leave a 5-star review on Apple or Spotify, then email matt@growletter.co or kolby@growletter.co with a screenshot and a question — we'll answer it on the show.

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    46 mins
  • The Secret Behind $100M+ Personal Brands
    May 20 2026

    Katelyn Bourgoin (founder of Unignorable) joins Matt and Kolby to break down the 6 types of ownable ideas, the 5-question framework she uses to engineer one, why courses are losing value to AI-enabled "brainware" agencies, and a live audit of Matt's ownable idea.


    Timestamps:

    • 00:00 Intro
    • 00:39 The Why We Buy → Unignorable Rebrand
    • 04:16 Ownable Ideas: Test Round (Sinek, Welsh, Sanchez)
    • 09:30 What an Ownable Idea Actually Is
    • 12:22 The 6 Types of Ownable Ideas
    • 16:26 How to Create Your Own (and Why It's Hard)
    • 18:55 The 5-Question Framework 22:10 Brené Brown Broken Down by the Framework
    • 24:16 Lightning vs. Engineered Ideas
    • 27:06 Live Audit: Matt's Overlap Effect Framework
    • 39:58 Brainware: The AI-Enabled Agency Thesis
    • 43:32 Productized Services as the New Course
    • 50:37 Accountability as a Service
    • 52:36 Sunsetting What No Longer Fits
    • 54:38 Where to Find Katelyn


    📌 Resources Mentioned:

    • UNIGNORABLE
    • Why We Buy newsletter
    • Brian Balfour's Four Fits Framework


    🔗 Connect with Katelyn Bourgoin:

    • LinkedIn
    • Website & Newsletter

    Enjoying the show? Leave a 5-star review on Apple or Spotify, then email matt@growletter.co or kolby@growletter.co with a screenshot and a question — we'll answer it on the show.

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    56 mins
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