How This Founder Got 1,000+ Publishers Like Forbes & Fast Company to Chase Expert Content

Startups With Stu

What happens when you combine the urgent need for expert voices with publishers' insatiable demand for authentic content? Brett Farmiloe, founder of Featured.com, shares how he transformed this market gap into a thriving platform that now powers content for industry giants like Fast Company, Forbes, and HubSpot. In this episode, Brett reveals the strategic pivot that led him from running a 500-client digital marketing agency to building a two-sided marketplace that's doubling year after year. He breaks down the chicken-and-egg challenge of marketplace businesses, explaining how focusing on the "hard side" - securing top-tier publishers - became their key to scaling. From validating their product with zero publishing partners to now serving over 1,000 prominent media outlets, Brett shares invaluable insights about product-led growth, staying lean with a team of seven, and why sometimes the best partnerships are the ones you keep close to the vest. His practical wisdom about unlocking expertise at scale and navigating the AI content revolution makes this episode essential listening for founders building marketplace businesses or anyone looking to establish themselves as an industry expert.