In its early days with no budget, The Gist used scrappy guerrilla marketing like spray painting its Instagram handle on sidewalks and creating scavenger hunts on college campuses. These low-cost, high-effort tactics built a core, highly-engaged initial subscriber base.
Before having a large audience, The Gist partnered with local brands like SoulCycle and Lululemon. By offering valuable perks like free classes for referrals, they acquired hundreds of subscribers and validated the appeal of their niche female audience to major brands.
Unlike many media brands that view social media as a brand-building or top-of-funnel tool, The Gist has monetized its social channels from day one. Social media represents a large portion of their revenue, functioning as a distinct product rather than just a distribution channel.
The Gist developed proprietary games like March Madness brackets to deepen engagement. Data shows users who participate are more likely to keep watching a tournament even after their favorite team is eliminated, demonstrating an ability to influence fan behavior—a key selling point for partners.
When building its paid community, The Gist surveyed its audience, who overwhelmingly preferred Discord. They specifically rejected Slack because it was associated with work, and they wanted the community to be a space for fun and leisure. This highlights the importance of user psychology in platform selection.
The Gist structures its content for 'T-shaped fandom.' The newsletter provides broad coverage across many sports (top of the T) to keep users informed, while recognizing that their audience has a deep, passionate interest in just one or two sports (the stem), guiding future verticalization.
For founders from corporate finance, an accelerator provided more than just funding. Mentors challenged them to think bigger, faster, and more critically about their audience and technology, providing a crucial mental transition from corporate employee to startup founder.
Having not raised capital since 2021, The Gist operates by using revenue from its existing products to fund its next strategic bets. This forces a disciplined approach, prioritizing new initiatives with a clear path to monetization to fuel future growth.
The founders of The Gist had no media experience. Their background in financial services was an advantage, as their own experiences as women in male-dominated fields gave them an authentic understanding of the underserved audience they wanted to reach.