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 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...

Ep.6 – HP Instant Ink’s Anthony Napolitano: Reinventing the Razor & Razorblades Model by Focusing on Subscriber Outcomes

Anthony Napolitano, VP and General Manager of HP’s Instant Ink Subscription Service, joins Robbie to discuss his role as an intrapreneur, and what it’s like to be the subscription guy in a transactional business. They cover running a physical subscription business,...

Ep.5 – A&E Networks’ Piper Rosenshein on Standing Out as a Niche Player in the Streaming Wars

Piper Rosenshein, VP Subscription Video Services at A+E Networks, shares her tips for creating a customer-centric approach and a lasting digital subscription model. Join Robbie and Piper as they discuss how to operationalize a digital subscription businesses, how to...

Ep.4: Peak Prosperity’s Adam Taggart

“Everybody gets the free. But if you want the really good stuff, you cross the velvet rope and subscribe.” Adam Taggart, President and Co-Founder of Peak Prosperity, joins Robbie to talk about his tips for building a community of subscribers that will grow into...

Ep.3: Thrive Global’s Jennifer Mazzon: Building a Forever Transaction through Subscription Products

A good product manager “meets customer needs and solves customer problems and fuels the business”. Jennifer Mazzon, Chief Product Officer at Thrive Global, joins Robbie to discuss her experience as a product expert. They cover finding the right team, how to build...

Ep.2: Inspirato’s Brad Handler on Revamping a Thousand-Year-Old Industry

“Life is too short to play vacation roulette”. Brad Handler and his brother Brent are vacation entrepreneurs who incorporate membership and subscription into their luxury travel service, Inspirato. Brad joins Robbie to discuss the importance of “celebrating failure”...

Ep.1: Kurbo’s Joanna Strober on a Digital Program to Make Kids Healthier

"Our goal is to teach forever habits.” Joanna Strober has reimagined the youth weight loss industry through her wellness program, Kurbo. Tune in to hear Joanna talk with Robbie about the role of a human coach in a digital program, how to communicate with both parents...