We have big news: HubSpot Media is taking over Starter storyone of the most trusted and popular media brands in the entrepreneurship space.
If you’ve spent any time in the world of bootstrapping companies, online startups, or the indie startup community, you already know what Starter Story is. But if this is your first acquaintance, buckle up because this brand has a story worth telling.
Table of contents
What is a starter story?
In 2017, a software engineer named Pat Walls was burning at both ends. His first startup narrowly failed to get into Y Combinator. He spent his days at work and his nights building something that would last – a story most entrepreneurs know all too well.
Refusing to give up on entrepreneurship, Pat started a side project – something inexpensive, scrappy, born out of genuine curiosity. He wanted to know how real founders actually build their companies from the ground up. So he started calling her and asking.
He built the first version of Starter story from a StarbucksHe posted his early founder interviews on Reddit and Hacker News to see what would happen. People loved it. He continued. Starter Story was online in October 2017 and from then on it developed in a way that also felt at home on its own pages.
Today, Starter Story is a fully-fledged multi-channel media brand that reaches over 100 million people annually. The numbers are difficult to refute:
- 800,000+ combined YouTube subscribers
- Over 600,000 total social followers
- 300,000 Newsletter subscribers
- 4,500+ Founder case studies and interviews in its database
- 100 million+ Content views per year
But what makes Starter Story culturally significant isn’t the scope, but the trust. For the startup community, being featured in the Starter Story has become something of a rite of passage. These are not fluffy success stories. These are honest and transparent breakdowns of how founders work built their companies: what they charged, how they found their first customers, what almost ruined them and What finally clicked?. Sales figures included.
This combination of radical honesty and practical insight is rare. This is exactly why Starter Story has built such a loyal and attentive audience.
Why HubSpot Media acquired it
Let’s zoom out for a second.
The media landscape is changing in ways that marketers are feeling every day. It is becoming increasingly difficult to earn organic traffic. The acquisition costs paid continue to rise. Audience attention is spread across more channels than ever before. The strategies that worked five years ago—keyword stuffing, large-scale algorithmic content, banner advertising—are producing increasingly diminishing returns.
What works? Trusted, developer-led brands that audiences are actively searching for. Brands that people subscribe to, share and return to – not because they were shown a retargeted ad, but because the content is truly worth their time.
This is what HubSpot Media has been working towards. Instead of attracting attention through paid channels, we invest in media properties that make this possible own It. The Hustle, Mindstream, and now Starter Story are all part of the same thesis: If you want to reach the people who matter most to your business, build (or acquire) the media they already love.
For this reason, Starter Story fits this strategy perfectly WHO it achieved. The Starter Story audience consists of early-stage founders – people who are deciding in the exact moment which tools they want to build their company on. Leading up to Series A, they evaluate options, act quickly, and form opinions about which brands they trust. This is a core segment for HubSpot, and Starter Story reaches them in their element as they actively learn and make decisions.
It’s not a demographic adjustment. It is a Mindset fit. And that makes the difference.
HubSpot Media: A Track Record Worth Talking About
We don’t take these steps lightly, and we have the results to prove why we keep doing them.
HubSpot’s media network is now driving by 50 million interactions and tens of thousands of leads every month – a number that reflects the real behavior of the audience, not exaggerated impressions. On YouTube alone, HubSpot’s channels are pulling together 20 million views per month.
The Hustle, which HubSpot acquired in 2021, is clear evidence of this. It has remained editorially independent, maintained its voice and community, and continued to grow. The same applies to Mindstream. We’ve learned how to manage the media brands we invest in well – adding resources without interfering.
With Starter Story joining the network, our total number of YouTube subscribers increases 2.9 million. This is a real, engaged audience of people who want to build things.
A note on why this is important
There’s a version of this story you could tell about media strategy and acquisition multiples. We won’t say anything about this version.
The version we are interested in is this: there are millions of people around the world who want to build something. Some have been on a side project for a few months. Some find themselves staring at a blank Notion document, trying to figure out what to do next. Some have started and are struggling through the chaotic middle. And Starter Story was one of the most honest and generous resources available to all of them.
Being able to invest in this company and grow it is something we’re really proud of.
If you’ve never read a Starter Story case study, Read one now. Then subscribe to the newsletter. Then watch a few videos. Trust us on this matter.
And if you’re building something, welcome to the HubSpot Media family. We built these things for you.