How Sam Parr Made $20 Million Selling 'The Hustle' Newsletter: A Success Story

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Hey Deal Lift fam! 🎯

Imagine this: a college kid slinging hot dogs 🌭 with a side of hustle, dreaming bigger than his wiener cart could ever take him. Fast forward a few years, and that same guy—Sam Parr—cashes out a jaw-dropping $20 million 💰 by selling his newsletter biz for $27M! 🤯 Yup, you read that right—a newsletter. Not some fancy app or tech gadget, but good ol’ emails 📧 that people couldn’t stop opening.

Buckle up 🎢, because Sam’s story is a rollercoaster of grit, genius, and a sprinkle of chaos—and it might just inspire YOU to hit “send” on your own big idea. 🚀 Let’s break it down!

🌭 The Hot Dog Days

Sam kicked things off at Belmont University in Nashville, where most students were cramming for exams. Not Sam. He was out there running Southern Sam’s: Wieners as Big as a Baby’s Arm—a hot dog stand with a name so wild it deserves its own Netflix special. 🎬

But college wasn’t all buns and ketchup—he even spent a night in jail 🚔 (yep, 24 hours behind bars!). Talk about a plot twist! 😲

💻 Tech Dreams & Epic Fails

In 2012, Sam ditched the hot dog life 🌭➡️💻 and bolted to San Francisco, ready to make waves in the tech world. He co-founded Bunk, a roommate-matching app that got scooped up by Apartment List—score! 🥅

He almost snagged a gig at Airbnb too, but oops, that jail stint popped up in a background check, and they ghosted him. 👻 Harsh, right? But Sam didn’t sulk—he doubled down. 💪

📰 Enter: The Hustle

Spotting a gap for biz advice that didn’t bore people to death 😴, Sam launched Hustle Con in 2014 with just $6K. That first event? Pulled in $50K 💥 thanks to sponsors and volunteers. Not bad!

But the event grind was a beast 🧟, so he pivoted hard—using his growing email list 📧 to birth The Hustle, a daily newsletter packed with viral vibes and quirky business tales.

By April 2016, he flipped the script, focusing on sharp, millennial-friendly business and tech news (think TheSkimm but with more swagger 😎).

📈 The growth? Insane.

• 🚀 Year 1: 100K subscribers

• 🔥 Year 2: 500K subscribers

Sam didn’t mess with VC cash either—he nabbed $1M from big names like Tim Ferriss and Scott Belsky, then let his readers invest $350K when he hit 200K subs. Talk about crowd-sourcing like a boss! 👑

💰 Leveling Up & Cashing Out

In 2019, Sam dropped Trends, a premium sub for entrepreneurs sniffing out the next big thing 🕵️‍♂️. By 2021, The Hustle was a legit media empire—big enough for HubSpot to swoop in with a $27M deal. As the solo founder, Sam pocketed $20M. 🎯 Mic drop. 🎤

But he didn’t just kick back with a piña colada 🍹. Nope! Sam’s now co-running Hampton (a swanky network for founders) and co-hosting My First Million, the podcast so good it sparked our friends over at Half Baked to jump into the game. 🎧

Oh, and fun fact: he’s still out there dropping wisdom—like how he once turned down a $100K offer to keep hustling his way. Legend status: unlocked. 🏆

This tech company grew 32,481%...

No, it's not Nvidia... It's Mode Mobile, 2023’s fastest-growing software company according to Deloitte.

Just as Uber turned vehicles into income-generating assets, Mode is turning smartphones into an easy passive income source, already helping 45M+ users earn $325M+ through simple, everyday use.

They’ve just been granted their stock ticker by the Nasdaq, and you can still invest in their pre-IPO offering at just $0.26/share.

Invest Now

*Mode Mobile recently received their ticker reservation with Nasdaq ($MODE), indicating an intent to IPO in the next 24 months. An intent to IPO is no guarantee that an actual IPO will occur.
*The Deloitte rankings are based on submitted applications and public company database research, with winners selected based on their fiscal-year revenue growth percentage over a three-year period.
*Please read the offering circular and related risks at invest.modemobile.com.

🚨 Why This Matters to YOU

Sam’s story isn’t just a flex—it’s proof that newsletters aren’t just for coupon codes or boring updates. 🥱 They’re goldmines waiting to be tapped! 💎

Whether you’ve got a killer idea 💡 or just a spark, Sam’s hustle shows you can start small (hot dogs, anyone? 🌭) and scale to millions.

So, what’s YOUR newsletter dream? Hit reply and spill the tea 🍵—we’re dying to know!

Catch ya next time, Deal Lifters! 🛫 Keep chasing those big wins! 🏆

— Your Deal Lift