Pitchfork: Ryan Schreiber

How I Built This · 6 Jun 2022 · 1h 16m

What this episode covers

Ryan Schreiber, founder of Pitchfork, explains how he launched a music review website from his parents' house in 1995, initially calling it Turntable before rebranding to Pitchfork after a cease-and-desist. He details his transition from a record store clerk to a full-time entrepreneur, securing his first advertiser, InSound, for $500 a month, and leveraging the viral impact of a 10/10 review of Radiohead’s Kid A to grow readership. Schreiber describes the company's evolution from a garage operation to a profitable independent media entity that launched the Pitchfork Music Festival, and its eventual acquisition by Condé Nast in 2015.

Most relevant to

founders before launch, early-stage companies and companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Condé Nast, InSound, Vice
Products
Pitchfork, Radiohead, Kid A, Intonation Music Festival, Pitchfork Music Festival
Also
Travis Morrison, Dismemberment Plan

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