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

Membership as a Flywheel for Tomorrow’s Growth With Hagerty’s McKeel Hagerty

“It's not what you say, what you sell, or what you offer. It’s how people feel about you.” Classic car insurance executive McKeel Hagerty joins Robbie on the show to share how Hagerty transformed into a lifestyle organization known for the loyalty of its policy...

Tinder’s Renate Nyborg on Going Global with Your Subscription Model

Today, host Robbie Kellman Baxter and her guest talk about what it really takes to grow your subscription rapidly outside of your home country. Renate Nyborg is an expert on globalization strategies for subscription-based business. Prior to her current role as General...

Why Customer Success Matters For Subscriptions With Gainsight CEO Nick Mehta

“The outcome you're looking for in customer success is to get your customers to stay longer, spend more money, and be better advocates for you.” Nick Mehta, CEO of Gainsight, speaks to Robbie about the emerging discipline of customer success. They discuss how paying...

CrossFit’s Eric Roza on Taking Over a Beloved Membership Organization After a Crisis, and Keeping the Magic

“There's no substitute for that one-on-one connection from the top leader to everyone in the organization if you really want to send a message that you actually care.” Eric Roza, the new owner of CrossFit, Inc., joins Robbie to share what it’s like to take over as the...

Steve Cakebread, Author Of “The IPO Playbook,” On Taking Your Subscription Business Public

Today’s guest, Steve Cakebread, knows a great deal about subscription pricing models and IPOs. Steve has brought three notable subscription-based companies—Salesforce, Pandora, and Yext—to successful initial public offerings, or IPOs, and served on the board of three...

YPO’s Scott Mordell on a Subscription that Makes CEOs into Superusers

Scott Mordell was CEO of the Young Presidents Organization, or YPO, from 2011 through 2020. What is fascinating about YPO is how intensely engaged their community is. Members will move mountains to make sure they can attend their regular meetings, despite the fact...

The Value of Subscription Businesses and How to Sell Them for More With John Warrillow, Author of The Art of Selling Your Business

Growing a business takes a lot of effort and time investment. So when the time comes to exit, it wouldbe a waste not to harvest the value you’ve created. So how do you get the ultimate reward for selling your business? Today, host Robbie Kellman Baxter sits down...

Ep14: Mighty Network’s Gina Bianchini on How to Create a Community Worth Subscribing to

Gina Bianchini brings her community-building and subscription expertise to this episode. She joins Robbie to discuss the role of community in building a broader Forever Transaction, why some communities go off the rails, and how to use community as a starting point...

Ep13: Vena’s Hunter Madeley on Driving Engagement in a B2B Subscription Business

Vena CEO Hunter Madeley joins Robbie to share best practices learned working at multiple B2B SaaS success stories. They discuss when it does and doesn’t make sense to pull out another company’s playbook, how to onboard for engagement and loyalty in a complex B2B...

Ep12: EA’s Mike Blank on Keeping a “Player First” Mindset within a Subscription Business

Electronic Arts’ Mike Blank joins Robbie to talk about his journey bringing subscription to the world of gaming. They discuss the challenges of subscriptions in the gaming industry, how to encourage consumers to discover new content within the subscription, and how EA...

Ep11: Impossible Foods’ Jessie Teitz Becker on Creating a New Eating Habit to Save the Planet

Jessie Teitz Becker, the SVP Marketing at Impossible Foods, brings her impressive marketing knowledge and expertise in forming long term recurring revenue relationships to Subscription Stories. She joins Robbie to discuss how Impossible is applying principles learned...

Ep10: Bain’s Stuart Berman on the Power of The NPS Loyalty Forum in Deepening Client Relationships Between Engagements

Bain and Company’s Stu Berman joins Robbie to talk about what makes the Net Promoter System (NPS) Loyalty Forum itself so powerful for the members and for Bain. They also explore how the best organizations build customer-centricity into the fabric of their businesses,...

Ep9: charity: water’s MZ Goodman on Bringing Subscriptions to the Nonprofit World

Charity: water’s MZ Goodman joins Robbie to share how she is applying subscription model best practices to a nonprofit. They discuss how MZ leverages content marketing and digital community strategies developed in her work at The New York Times, Glossier and goop to...

Ep8-Emory University’s Dan McCarthy on a New Approach to Valuing Companies

Dan McCarthy, Assistant Professor of Marketing at Emory University’s Goizueta School of Business, joins Robbie to share his expertise on the intersection of marketing and finance. They discuss why customer lifetime value is such an important and misunderstood metric,...

Ep7-INMA’s Greg Piechota on the News Industry’s Big Bet on Reader Revenue

Greg Piechota, Researcher-In-Residence at the International News Media Association, joins Robbie to discuss the increasing importance of subscriptions and reader revenue in a world of declining ad sales. They talk about the value of studying one industry to gain...