Founder’s Journal’s Next Chapter

·24 min·2 clips

Alex Lieberman reveals why he's rebooting Founder's Journal with a format he's never been more excited about.

This special episode of Founder's Journal is a solo reflection by host Alex Lieberman on the podcast's history and future. Lieberman, co-founder of Morning Brew, announces a major format reboot for the show. He outlines his evolving philosophy on podcasting and what makes a show sustainable. The podcast began in mid-2020 as a daily recorded journal from his mother's kitchen table, leveraging social accountability to build the habit. It initially peaked at 300,000 monthly listeners promoted through Morning Brew. The first format became unsustainable after he stepped down as CEO and sold Morning Brew in late 2020, leaving him without daily operational stories. The show briefly rebranded to "The Crazy Ones," a co-hosted talk show with Sophia Emerald and Jesse Pugliese, featuring interviews with founders like Brett Adcock of Figure. Lieberman found building rapport remotely with co-hosts was a significant challenge, unlike successful shows where hosts were already close friends. The third iteration positioned Lieberman as a "startup sherpa" curating the best online content for entrepreneurs. He believes curation is increasingly valuable but found the format unenergizing and poorly suited to the linear, non-searchable nature of podcast feeds. Lieberman analyzes the current podcast landscape as extremely crowded, where success typically requires being a celebrity, having built-in distribution, or committing for over seven years. He argues the best path for new creators is to find a valuable, untapped niche, like luxury watches or game shows. He advises that turning a podcast into a business is more effective through direct audience monetization than ads, especially in B2B where customer lifetime value is high. The new, fourth iteration of Founder's Journal will be a weekly, 30-minute interview show focused on a founder's single "superpower." Examples include Sam Parr on vetting business ideas or Isaac Medeiros of Mini Katana on mastering YouTube Shorts for sales. Lieberman is most excited for this format, which combines curation with deep dives into a founder's core strength. The tone is candid, reflective, and strategically minded, blending personal narrative with industry analysis. Listeners interested in the business of podcasting, media evolution, or Lieberman's entrepreneurial journey will find this compelling. Those solely seeking tactical startup advice may prefer to wait for the new interview format launching the following week.

As heard by us

A candid reset that shows why the next format may finally fit the host.

Alex Lieberman treats this reboot as a practical explanation rather than a polished origin story. He traces the show from its early pandemic setup in New Jersey, when he and his then-fiancee were staying at his mother's place, to the later attempt to turn it into a curated…

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Why you'd press play

A reboot built from lessons about what this show can actually do.

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