# Pitchfork: Ryan Schreiber

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2022-06-06
- Length: 1h 16m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-06-06-pitchfork-ryan-schreiber

## Summary

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.

## Chapters

- [0:24](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-06-06-pitchfork-ryan-schreiber#t=24) Introduction: Ryan Schreiber and the origins of Pitchfork
- [3:25](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-06-06-pitchfork-ryan-schreiber#t=205) Early life, music obsession, and record store work
- [15:42](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-06-06-pitchfork-ryan-schreiber#t=942) Launching Turntable and rebranding to Pitchfork
- [27:07](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-06-06-pitchfork-ryan-schreiber#t=1627) Moving to Chicago, first revenue, and hiring writers
- [41:26](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-06-06-pitchfork-ryan-schreiber#t=2486) The Radiohead Kid A review and growing influence
- [45:50](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-06-06-pitchfork-ryan-schreiber#t=2750) Failing in Chicago, returning to Minnesota, and stabilizing revenue
- [52:07](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-06-06-pitchfork-ryan-schreiber#t=3127) The Travis Morrison 0.0 review and ethical reckoning
- [56:31](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-06-06-pitchfork-ryan-schreiber#t=3391) Hiring Chris Kaskey and scaling the business
- [1:00:08](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-06-06-pitchfork-ryan-schreiber#t=3608) Launching the Pitchfork Music Festival
- [1:07:37](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-06-06-pitchfork-ryan-schreiber#t=4057) Acquisition by Condé Nast and corporate integration

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Direct-to-consumer & e-commerce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/direct-to-consumer)
- [Marketing & brand](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/marketing-and-brand)
- [Growth, exits & acquisitions](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/growth-exits-and-acquisitions)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)

## Most relevant to

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

## Mentioned

- Pitchfork (product)
- Condé Nast (company)
- InSound (company)
- Radiohead (product)
- Kid A (product)
- Travis Morrison (other)
- Dismemberment Plan (other)
- Vice (company)
- Intonation Music Festival (product)
- Pitchfork Music Festival (product)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [How to Ask Someone to Invest in Your CPG Brand, with Fave's Ryan Raish](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2026-10-10-how-to-ask-someone-to-invest-in-your-cpg-brand-with-faves-ryan-raish) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [10: The Press](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/thoroughly-considered/2016-03-17-10-the-press) (Thoroughly Considered)
- [Rooting for the Home Team with Paul Freedman and Bryan Carmel](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2026-05-27-rooting-for-the-home-team-with-paul-freedman-and-bryan-carmel) (Oxide and Friends)
- [Episode 058: Important Forks](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/making-it/2016-02-12-episode-058-important-forks) (Making It)
- [Founder Feature: Dina DiCenso of RIND](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2025-06-06-founder-feature-dina-dicenso-of-rind) (The Startup CPG Podcast)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-06-06-pitchfork-ryan-schreiber. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to How I Built This.