Subscription Stories

True Tales from the Trenches

Subscription models are crazy powerful. Savvy small companies can easily deploy them to knock huge Goliaths off kilter. We’ve seen it in entertainment, software, hardware, news, retail, hospitality—the list goes on. In her podcast series, Robbie Kellman Baxter interviews the leaders of this revolution about how they’re using subscription pricing and membership models to redefine the biggest industries and generate predictable recurring revenue along the way.

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Episode Blogs

The Right Teams & Culture for Subscription Growth with Gannett-USA Today Network CMO Mayur Gupta

Mayur Gupta is the Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer at Gannett – USA Today Network. He is responsible for leading the transformation of Gannett into a subscription platform that is obsessed with user value and not just site traffic. Mayur is responsible to...

How the “Daily Homepage for the World’s Largest Industry” is Rethinking the Future of Travel with Skift’s Rafat Ali

In March of 2020, travel as we knew it abruptly ground to a near standstill. First cruise ships were docked, and then air travel quickly became limited to very special cases. Hotels stood empty except for those that held people in quarantine and the health care...

The Quantitative Side of Customer-Centricity with Wharton’s Peter Fader

Customer-centricity is essential in the world of subscriptions. To succeed you have to understand who your most valuable customers are, and invest your resources in those relationships. But measuring the value of each customer over an extended period of time,...

Building a Subscription Bundle to Better Deliver on Your Forever Promise with Tommy O’Hare, SVP of Outside

Bundles are a hot topic right now and Outside+ is a fascinating example. A few months ago, the Outside Magazine organization announced they were welcoming 20 new publications including Trail Runner, Velo News and Yoga Journal to their family. More recently,...

How Profit and Purpose are Combining to Create New 21st Century Iconic D2C Companies Like Tesla, The RealReal and Bellwether Coffee with DBL Ventures’ Ira Ehrenpreis

There is no bigger topic when it comes to consumer sentiment than the rising demand and focus on Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance related issues. Today we’re looking at this challenge from the perspective of a leading VC who has invested in some...

The Importance of Storytelling in the World of Subscriptions with GoodTrust’s Daniel Sieberg

The ability to tell a good story is valuable—and not only when the story is the product, as it is in journalism. Stories can build understanding, trust and connection with members, prospects and investors alike. Storytelling is an important skill in the...

Small Is Beautiful – Niching Down Your Subscription to Grow Faster with Mindful.org CEO Bryan Welch

Mindful.org is dedicated to a very specific goal--sharing the gifts of mindfulness through content, training, courses, and directories— and helping people enjoy better health, foster more caring relationships, and cultivate a more compassionate society. Because...

How to Reinvent Your Organization as a Member-driven Movement with Ariel Zirulnick of The Membership Puzzle Project

Since The Membership Puzzle Project (MPP) launch in May 2017, the team has studied, advised, and supported more than 100 newsrooms around the world, from Akron, Ohio, to New Delhi, India as they make the transition to a member-driven newsroom. In this...

How Strava Built a Subscription Business within a Social Platform with Strava CRO David Lorsch

Just over 10 years ago, I had my first conversation about the idea that would become Strava with serial entrepreneurs Mark Gainey and Michael Horvath. They talked to me about their bold objective of building the world's largest community of athletes. Since...

Subscription Stories Season Two Wrap-Up

As we wrap up Season 2, we’re reflecting on the amazing guests we had, and all of the wisdom that was shared. We covered best practices in pricing, scaling and supporting your subscription offering, and did deep dives on what membership means at organizations...

Managing Subscription Partnerships for HBO Max Across Multiple Channels with WarnerMedia’s Molly O’Connor

“You have to think about things from the customers’ standpoint. Al that matters to them is if they can access everything they want in one place that meets their needs and costs.” Molly O'Connor, the VP of Business Planning & Strategy at WarnerMedia, joins Robbie...

Subscription Learnings from Apple, VMware and GitLab with Xiaohe Li

“Pricing is a holistic area. It’s science married with the arts and humanities.” Subscription pricing expert Xiaohe Li joins Robbie to talk about balancing the art and science of pricing strategy. She also opens up about the things she learned about pricing from her...

Developing a Minimum Viable Subscription Product at Nike with Dave Cobban

“If you can build a brand-loyal lover from a young age, you will reap the benefits of that for decades.” Dave Cobban, co-founder of Unbrkble, joins Robbie to share how he has been instrumental in developing what would become “Nike Adventure Club,” a shoe subscription...

Freemium, Free Trial and Free Surprises with Elena Verna of Reforge. When Does It Make Sense to Give It Away, and When Doesn’t It?

“Every business will always have a room for free at some point in their strategy.” Elena Verna, Reforge EIR and Partner, joins Robbie to talk about the merits of giving away freemium offers in a subscription business. She also talks about strengthening customer...

Building a Content Machine to Support Your Subscribers with EntrepreneurOnFire’s John Lee Dumas

“Become the single best solution to a real problem and you have a chance of winning.” John Lee Dumas, host of the EntrepreneurOnFire podcast, joins Robbie to talk about his experience of creating a daily podcast, building a content machine that meets the needs of his...