Dear Starter Story Community,
I have some big news.
Today, Starter Story is being acquired by HubSpot Media.
This has been in the works for a few months now, and I'm so excited to finally share this news with you.
Here's how it happened: |
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Starter Story began inside this Starbucks in NYC.
I was 27.
5 years into a career I didn't care about.
$60K in debt.
I knew I wanted to build something. I just didn't know what.
So I started interviewing founders to understand what was working.
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For a year, I woke up at 6am and went to that Starbucks before work.
Cold emailed founders.
Coded the platform.
Published content.
For months, nothing really moved.
Then slowly… it did.
Eventually it started making $3-4K/month.
Then, I quit my job.
But it was too early.
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Even after quitting my job, I still didn't believe this could be a "real" business.
I kept searching for “better” ideas.
Tried & failed with dozens of projects.
I even moved home into my mom's apartment to keep expenses low.
There were stretches that were honestly depressing.
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At 29, I burned out.
I did a "think week" and drove across the USA.
No work, no email.
Somewhere on that drive, it hit me:
Starter Story wasn’t a stepping stone into other ideas.
It was *the* idea.
3 years in, it finally clicked.
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Starter Story was the idea I had been overlooking the entire time.
So I channeled all of my focus into it.
- Went hard on distribution
- Monetized it
- & made my big first hire
Revenue nearly doubled overnight.
Within 2 years, Starter Story crossed $1M in annual revenue.
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Around that time, I met Kristen.
When I had nothing, she believed in me.
We eventually got married and adopted a senior dog named Demi.
Starter Story would not exist without the people who stood beside me.
RIP Demi ❤️
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5 years in, we made our biggest bet: YouTube.
We traveled the US, knocked on doors, and filmed videos with real business owners.
100K subscribers in 6 months.
It changed the trajectory of the company.
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Starter Story grew more than I could have ever imagined.
- 4K+ founder stories
- 1.6M+ followers
- 250K+ newsletter subscribers
- 10K+ paid members
- Hundreds of millions of views
- Multi-million-dollar revenue
All bootstrapped & profitable!
And over time, Starter Story became more than just me.
It became a real team.
This outcome belongs to them too.
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And that's where HubSpot comes in.
HubSpot was actually our very first YouTube sponsor.
Then, a tweet turned into a conversation.
That conversation turned into an offer. |
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Which brings me to today.
HubSpot has acquired Starter Story in full.
I know news like this can raise questions. So I want to be very clear about the part that matters most:
We are not going anywhere.
We’re joining HubSpot Media, and continuing to build.
Starter Story will remain Starter Story.
Your experience with Starter Story - our newsletter, videos, courses, and products are also not going anywhere.
If anything, they will only get better.
HubSpot understands distribution.
They believe in the builders.
And they understand what we built.
That alignment mattered.
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Some of you have been reading this newsletter since 2017. You've been with me since the very beginning.
That means more to me than you probably realize.
While this is not the end of our story, it does feel like we are closing a chapter.
So I want to take a moment to thank you.
Thank you for being a part of this crazy journey with me.
Thank you for reading our case studies, watching our videos, spending your Sunday mornings with us, and believing in Starter Story.
I couldn't have done this without you.
I can't wait to write the next chapter with you all.
Much love,
Pat
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Starter Story - 4920 W Cypress St Ste 104 - #5143 - Tampa, FL 33607
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