How TechCrunch Streamlined Editorial Workflows with beehiiv

Situation:

TechCrunch had built a strong newsletter portfolio — StrictlyVC for venture capital and Mobility for transportation — both with loyal audiences.

However, their existing setup, powered by HubSpot, was limiting their editorial agility, growth potential, and revenue scalability.

TechCrunch’s leadership knew newsletters were key to building direct relationships with readers — but their legacy infrastructure couldn’t support modern media speed and experimentation.

Challenge:

Despite the success of their content, operational inefficiencies were slowing the team down:

• Rigid templates and technical dependencies made even small editorial changes time-consuming.
• Fragmented tools meant subscriber growth, engagement, and monetization lived on disconnected platforms.
• Manual subscriber acquisition limited scalability.
• Over-aggressive churn rules in HubSpot removed active readers, hurting retention.
• Bot signups inflated metrics and damaged deliverability.

For a fast-moving newsroom, this setup blocked creativity, agility, and growth.

Solution:

TechCrunch migrated its newsletter operations to beehiiv, seeking a unified, editorial-first platform that combined creation, growth, and monetization.

beehiiv enabled TechCrunch to:

1. Streamline editorial workflows – Writers and editors could work directly in the editor without developer help.
2. Unlock experimentation – Run A/B tests, polls, and new formats with no tech roadblocks.
3. Grow smarter – Use SEO-optimized archives, popups, and referral programs to compound subscriber growth.
4. Monetize easily – Integrate beehiiv’s native Ad Network, sponsorship tools, and paid subscription options.
5. Clean data and segmentation – Filter bots and improve deliverability and targeting accuracy.

Matt Gross, VP of Digital Initiatives at Archetype (TechCrunch’s parent company), led the move to bring editorial flexibility and business growth under one roof.

Results:

Within months of adopting beehiiv, TechCrunch saw tangible improvements across the board:

1. Editorial Agility

Writers and editors now publish faster and more freely, testing ideas without relying on developers.

“Now that email experimentation is easy, the question isn’t if something’s possible — it’s what else can we try?”

2. Subscriber Growth

• Mobility grew 14% in two months.
• StrictlyVC grew 4% in the same period.
• Every issue now functions as a discoverable, evergreen asset thanks to SEO archives and referral loops.

3. Revenue Diversification

• Activated beehiiv’s Ad Network, ensuring unsold inventory still generates income.
• Simplified sponsorship management for sales and editorial teams.
• Prepared for paid subscription launches with integrated tools.

4. Smarter Data, Cleaner Lists

beehiiv’s segmentation tools removed fake signups, improving deliverability and accuracy in analytics.

5. Continuous Experimentation

Editorial teams can test newsletter formats, reader polls, and engagement hooks in real time — fueling innovation and retention.