Before we get into this week’s story, a quick reminder:
Unlikely Entrepreneurs comes out February 3! And if you’re in the Boston area, we’d love to see you at our book launch party. RSVP here
Landing Your First Customer: Katie Couric Media
Landing your startup's first customer is one of the hardest things a founder will ever do. And it turns out, even having your name recognized by millions of Americans doesn't make it much easier.
I've known Katie Couric and her husband John Molner for years. In fact, John was my college roommate! So I was lucky to have me a front-row seat to their experience building Katie Couric Media (KCM).
Despite Katie's legendary journalism career and massive name recognition, KCM went through all the ups and downs of any other startup.
Especially when it came to landing that first customer.
In 2016, Katie had arrived at a career crossroads. After four years as Yahoo! News' Global News Anchor, she recognized that digital media was the future, but she craved creative control over her next chapter. Together with John, a seasoned M&A banker, they launched KCM in 2017 with a vision to create purposeful content that brands would want to align with.
Even as first-time entrepreneurs, John and Katie understood something that trips up many founders. Your first customer isn't just a revenue source… they're a design partner.
Katie and John were intentional about who they pursued first. They wanted a partner who would help them build the ideal media product together. Someone willing to learn alongside them, not just cut a check and disappear.
They set their sights on Proctor & Gamble.
Katie had met P&G's Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard years earlier at a Glamour Woman of the Year dinner. She respected his integrity and he valued her journalistic credibility. When John and Katie pitched him on KCM's vision—creating engaging content people genuinely care about—Marc was in.
But here's the strategic move: John priced the contract in a way that recognized P&G wasn't just a customer. He assigned an account manager specifically to understand how to connect KCM's content to P&G's corporate social responsibility goals. They prioritized learning over maximizing early revenue.
Could they have charged more from a purely transactional partner? Definitely.
But it would have been shortsighted.
Instead, when that annual contract came up for renewal, P&G suggested moving to a multi-year deal. And having P&G as a reference helped KCM land subsequent contracts with Mars, Humana, Google, Pfizer, and Exact Sciences.
Today, KCM delivers content weekly to more than five million followers and subscribers. They've achieved profitability every quarter since launch. And John developed such deep insight into their sales process that he didn't hire professional salespeople until after he'd personally closed the first ten customers.
Remember: Your first customer chooses you as much as you choose them. Find someone who wants to build with you—not just buy from you.
Katie and John are featured in my new book, Unlikely Entrepreneurs. Coming our February 3!