Thread by @austin_rief

1/ "Why didn't @morningbrew raise VC money?" is a question I answer a lot.

So I thought I'd answer it here for everyone.

This is why we didn't raise VC money, and what I learned about raising capital.

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2/ Morning Brew started as a college side project in 2015.

In 2015, media was BOOMING.

Here were some headlines from the time.

3/ We had very well known media execs (whom you would know by name) telling @businessbarista and I that we *need* to raise capital.

They insist we raised $10s of millions of dollars to "pivot to video".

We had no idea what we'd even do with $10s of millions.

4/ They said newsletters weren't a business - they were a hobby or marketing for a business.

At the time, we thought maybe there were right. We weren't confident in ourselves yet. After all, we hadn't worked a day in the media industry.

5/ The luckiest thing that happened to us was that we *couldn't" raise capital in 2015.

I was still a student and Alex was working at Morgan Stanley.

We decided to wait until we went full-time in 2017 to raise.

6/ In 2017, the story was *very* different.

All that venture money weighed on media companies as they burned cash trying (and failing) to exponentially grow revenue and valuation.

The narrative around the media industry had done a 180.

7/ As it turned out, the media and advertising industry was an INCREDIBLE.

The only problem: all the value accrued to the platforms. Facebook and Google ate all the ad revenue and publishers were scrambling.

8/ When it came time to raise capital in 2017, we opted for a very different approach. We:

- Raised only $750,000 from strategic angels
- Got to profitability as soon as possible to give us optionality
- Focused on a single newsletter.

9/ People questioned us for 2 years. They told us we were wasting our time.

But we had the metrics. We saw the audience, revenue, and profitability growth.

We knew we were building a thriving business.

10/ It's a weird feeling knowing you're right about something when everyone tells you that you're wrong.

We definitely second guessed ourselves at times, but in 2017 we were confident.

We kept our heads down and ran a healthy business while many others burned through millions.

11/ Takeaway 1: Raising venture capital isn't good or bad.

Rather, you must understand your business and goals.

Once you know that, ensure you align your capital structure with your desired outcome and capital needs.

Don't raise for the sake of raising.

12/ Takeaway 2: Luck is always a factor

I am a big believer that you make your own luck over the long-term.

However, there is a ton of luck in each individual event throughout your life.

At @MorningBrew we certainly had some luck with our timing.

13/ If you enjoyed this thread, follow me for more content like this and check out my past threads.

https://twitter.com/austin_rief/status/1339411082063060992?s=20

This thread has given me 10 ideas for new threads. Thanks for all the messages!