Exclusive: Robinhood Snacks podcast spins out
- Lucinda Shen, author ofAxios Pro: Fintech Deals
The duo behind Robinhood's Snacks podcast are spinning the program out of the stock trading company and relaunching it on Monday as "The Best One Yet."
Why it matters: Robinhood's podcast and its broader media business, which includes a newsletter, has built a massive following among the retail trading crowd.
By the numbers: At 40 million subscribers, Robinhood says it's the largest newsletter in the U.S.
- The podcast meanwhile had about 11.5 million downloads in the last three months of 2021.
- By comparison, Robinhood has 22.7 million stock trading customers.
Background: Jack Kramer and Nick Martell sold financial podcast and newsletter company MarketSnacks to Robinhood in 2019 — the company's first ever acquisition.
- That business became Robinhood's media operations, with Kramer and Martell both taking on the title of managing editor.
Of note: Robinhood will serve as the podcast's exclusive sponsor, meaning, at least initially, TBOY's revenue will come via Robinhood.
- Content-wise, TBOY will also be very similar to the Snacks podcast, producing easy-t0-understood content about the financial world.
- "Robinhood... will help them stand up the new venture, allowing us to maintain a close brand connection," CEO Vlad Tenev wrote in a message to employees Friday.
Between the lines: Being a part of a registered broker-dealer, Robinhood Snacks had to contend with more onerous regulatory requirements and restrictions.
- Every newsletter, for example, comes with a disclosure that the content is not investment advice. Snacks also doesn't cover Robinhood, due to the conflict of interest.
The intrigue: It's still unclear whether Robinhood will, at some point, stop being an exclusive sponsor — allowing other advertisers to also buy air time.
To read more about this sector, sign up for the Axios Pro Fintech Deals newsletter.