Overview
Sam Parr is an American entrepreneur and media executive who founded The Hustle, a business newsletter that grew to over 2 million subscribers before being acquired by HubSpot in 2021.[2][3] He currently serves as co-founder and president of Hampton, a membership community for tech CEOs that generates approximately $8 million in annual recurring revenue.[4][6]
Parr's entrepreneurial journey began in college with a hot dog stand in Nashville and progressed through multiple ventures including a roommate matching startup acquired by Apartment List.[5] He co-hosts the My First Million podcast, which generates over 1 million monthly downloads and ranks among the top business podcasts globally.[8][11]
Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Parr attended Belmont University on a Division I track scholarship before moving to San Francisco to pursue technology entrepreneurship.[10][13] His ventures have consistently focused on community building and media, from early networking events to his current role leading Hampton's founder community.[9]
Early life and education
Parr was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, where he attended St. Louis University High School.[13] He earned a Division I track scholarship to Belmont University in Nashville, competing in the 200-meter and 400-meter events with personal bests of 22.01 seconds and 49.8 seconds respectively.[10]
While studying music business at Belmont University, Parr started his first venture in 2011: a hot dog stand called "Southern Sam's: Wiener's as Big as a Baby's Arm" in Nashville's Gulch neighborhood.[5] The business helped pay for his education and provided foundational experience in customer service, operations, and marketing.[5] He graduated from Belmont in 2012 with a bachelor's degree in music business and earned All-Academic Honors from the Atlantic Sun Conference.[10]
Career
Early ventures (2012–2015)
After graduating from Belmont University, Parr moved to San Francisco with the goal of starting an internet company.[5] While apartment hunting, he met John Havel and joined him as co-founder of Bunk, a roommate matching startup that charged $300 per successful lease signing.[5] The company was acquired by Apartment List after ten months of operation in 2013, providing Parr with his first technology exit.[5]
In 2013, Parr founded the Anti-MBA Book Club, a free weekly meetup in San Francisco for aspiring entrepreneurs who couldn't access traditional business school networks.[12][13] Members read a business book monthly and met weekly with guest experts, with about 20 people attending in-person meetings while roughly 2,000 participated online.[12] The club ran for nearly two years and served as Parr's first successful community-building experiment.[13]
The Hustle (2016–2021)
Parr founded The Hustle in 2016 as a daily business newsletter that began as a tool to promote his HustleCon conference series.[2][5] Starting with $12 in his kitchen, he grew the newsletter to over 2 million subscribers and mid-eight figures in revenue.[5][7] The newsletter focused on millennials, tech, and culture with a conversational, irreverent tone that achieved 50% open rates compared to the 20% industry standard.[1]
The company built multiple revenue streams including advertising, a premium subscription service called Trends, and conferences.[5] Parr described his mission as helping "business builders get the information they needed to put their dent into the world and change how media companies operate."[2] The company's motto was "to treat you like our smart friend -- not just a click that makes us ad revenue."[2]
In February 2021, HubSpot acquired The Hustle in a deal reportedly worth over $20 million.[2][3][5] Parr reflected on the sale: "When I sold, I was a person with poor eyesight who put on glasses and saw the world differently. I was like, 'Oh my God, living is so wonderful!'"[5]
Media and podcasting (2019–present)
In 2019, Parr began co-hosting the My First Million podcast with Shaan Puri, featuring brainstorming sessions about business ideas, interviews with entrepreneurs, and market trend discussions.[8][11] The show generates over 1 million monthly downloads and ranks as one of the top business podcasts globally.[11] The podcast was included in The Hustle's acquisition by HubSpot, but Parr continues hosting under a performance-based arrangement.[8]
Hampton (2022–present)
In June 2022, Parr co-founded Hampton with Joe Speiser, a highly-vetted membership community for tech CEOs and founders.[4][6][9] Members pay $8,500 annually and must meet strict criteria: $3 million in revenue, $3 million in funding, or a $10 million exit.[6] The company operates with 8-person core groups that meet monthly with facilitators, plus city chapters, retreats, and a digital community.[9]
Hampton has grown to over 1,000 members and generates approximately $8 million in annual recurring revenue.[4][6] Parr projects the company will become a greater than $100 million annual revenue business.[6] He explained the inspiration: "I didn't know a thing when I started my first startup. I was winging it, but I couldn't let my employees, customers, or anyone else know. So, I formed a group with a few other entrepreneurs and it changed my life."[4]
Public statements
I started The Hustle with the mission to help give business builders the information they needed to put their dent into the world and change how media companies operate
On founding The Hustle — MediaPost, 2021[2]
Copywriting is just salesmanship on paper that could scale to an infinity amount of people
On business strategy — Creator Science, 2023[11]
If I could go back in time, I would own 100% of the company and never give anyone any equity, and I would hand the company down to my grandkids
On business ownership — They Got Acquired, 2023[5]
References
- Hustle CEO Sam Parr & SmartNews co-founder Rich Jaroslavsky on the future of media — TechCrunch, May 2020
- HubSpot To Acquire Email Newsletter Publisher 'The Hustle' — MediaPost, February 2021
- The Hustle Hits 1 Million Email Subscribers, Touts Profitability — MediaPost, October 2018
- Acquisitions Like The Hustle Will Mostly Target One Type of Publisher — A Media Operator, February 2021
- The Hustle wants to become a membership and services company — Digiday, December 2017
- How the Hustle built a 100,000-subscriber email newsletter for millennial bros — Digiday, September 2016
- 'We do it because it's profitable': Ads improbably sprout on ad averse Substack — Digiday, January 2021
- This email newsletter raised $300K from its (affluent, largely Silicon Valley–based) readers in 55 hours — Nieman Journalism Lab, March 2017
- How publishers use free swag and perks to keep email acquisition costs lower — Digiday, January 2019
- Inside Hampton: Sam Parr's Bootstrapped Solution to the Founder Loneliness Epidemic — Inc. Magazine, January 2026
- Hampton is creating a safe space for tech CEOs — Fast Company, April 2023
- The Hustle Crosses the Million-Subscriber Mark — PR Newswire, October 2018
- How The Hustle Turned Its Audience Into a $27 Million Business — Growth Curve Newsletter, January 2023
- The Hustle Story: How Sam Parr Built a Newsletter HubSpot Bought for $20.3 Million — Spacebar Studios, January 2023
- HubSpot's Surprise Acquisition of The Hustle: 8 Figure Exit — Built to Sell Radio, June 2021
- How Sam Parr Built an $8M Network of High-growth Founders — Community Inc., January 2024
- Sam Parr: From Unemployed to Growing The Hustle to 2m Subscribers — Growth In Reverse, January 2023
- The Hustle acquired! Here's the founder. — Mixergy, March 2021
- My First Million - Apple Podcasts — Apple Podcasts