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Business/entrepreneurship Updated August 20, 2025

Sam Parr

Sam Parr is an entrepreneur and podcaster who co-founded The Hustle and hosts the My First Million podcast.

Born

August 15, 1986

Known For

  • Founding The Hustle media company
  • Co-hosting My First Million podcast
  • Building business newsletter with 1M+ subscribers

Social Media

Notable Facts

Career Highlights

Background

Sam Parr attended the University of Missouri, where he studied journalism. His early career was rooted in media and content creation, beginning with a role at the Chicago Tribune. He later transitioned into the startup ecosystem, working for a venture capital firm where he gained insight into business operations and investment strategies. This foundational experience in both traditional media and venture capital provided the groundwork for his subsequent entrepreneurial ventures.

Major contributions

Parr is a serial entrepreneur known for founding and co-founding several significant media and information companies. His most notable creation is The Hustle, a daily email newsletter that distilled business and tech news into a digestible, conversational format for a millennial audience. He also co-founded My First Million, a popular podcast exploring business ideas and trends with co-host Shaan Puri. Parr was a co-founder of the Hampton Inn viral website, a private community for founders and high-level operators. His work is characterized by identifying and capitalizing on underserved niches in the media landscape, building engaged audiences through authentic and direct communication.

Impact on their field

The launch and growth of The Hustle demonstrated a new, highly scalable model for digital media. It proved that a focused, personality-driven newsletter could achieve rapid audience growth and significant commercial success, ultimately leading to its acquisition by HubSpot in 2021. This validated the power of niche, subscription-based media in an era of declining advertising revenue for traditional outlets. Furthermore, the Hampton community created a new template for high-value, curated professional networks, moving beyond generic social platforms to foster deeper connections among entrepreneurs.

Current work/relevance

Following the acquisition of The Hustle, Parr continues to host the My First Million podcast, which maintains a strong and influential audience within the startup and business community. He remains an active angel investor, deploying capital into early-stage companies, particularly those in the media, consumer, and SaaS sectors. His current focus includes exploring new business models and ventures, often discussed transparently on his podcast, which serves as a real-time case study and idea lab for his listeners.

Personal Story

Sam Parr is an entrepreneur, writer, and podcaster who has built a career around understanding and sharing the secrets of business success. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and after college, he dove into the startup world, founding several companies. His ventures ranged from a daily email newsletter about Chicago to a popular bar, giving him a wide range of hands-on business experience before he found his true calling in media.

Why they matter

Sam Parr co-founded The Hustle, a wildly successful daily email newsletter that delivered business and tech news with a sharp, witty, and accessible tone. He grew it from a side project into a media powerhouse with millions of subscribers. In 2021, he and his team sold The Hustle to HubSpot for a reported sum rumored to be in the tens of millions of dollars. This exit cemented his status as a highly successful media entrepreneur. Beyond The Hustle, he founded the Hampton community, a private network for high-achieving founders and investors.

What they’re known for

Sam is best known today as the charismatic host of the massively popular podcast, My First Million. On the show, which he co-hosts with Shaan Puri, they deconstruct business ideas, interview successful founders, and brainstorm new million-dollar concepts live on air. His energetic and curious personality makes complex business topics entertaining and easy to digest for a broad audience.

His writing style, first honed at The Hustle, is direct, humorous, and packed with actionable insights.

He is a prominent figure in the world of online business and creator economy, known for his ability to spot trends and build engaged communities.