So Money - Episode 204
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theSkimm Founders

Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin

If you’re someone who’s always on the go, looking for a way to consume the day’s top new stories in the fastest way possible,  it, but you have to check out theSkimm. It’s a free, daily email newsletter that goes out each morning, gives you all the important news across subject lines, and party lines. It is simple, and kind of a sassy roundup of the latest news stories with fresh editorial content catering mainly to a young female audience. It’s fun to read, easy to understand, easy to explain to a friend after work at a happy hour, what’s say going on in Greece or the latest in the electoral race.

And I’m not only a fan, I guess you could also say I’m sort of a contributor to theSkimm. In my partnership with Chase Slate, the brand partnered with theSkimm to create some cool and interesting editorial content around financial fitness that I helped create. So I’m very proud to introduce today’s guests, the co-founders of theSkimm. They are friends, Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin and you’re gonna love their story. Carly and Danielle, they originally met in Rome, studying abroad.

Years later they reconnected in New York as they were both producers for NBC News. And they not only became fast friends again, but they also became roommates and co-founded theSkimm from their living room couch. Both of them have now been included on Forbes 30 Under 30 List this year. They were honored by Goldman Sachs Builders and Innovator Summit as one of the most 100 Intriguing Entrepreneurs in 2014. Danielle is a Tufts grad; she hails from Chicago. While Carly is a New Yorker who attended the University of Pennsylvania. And what brought them together and what really sparked theSkimm, was and is their passion for news. And so these ladies are just a force to be reckoned with, and they’re also really relatable. I loved talking with them.

Several takeaways from our conversation:

  • How they, as two novice co-founders of a very, very fast growing company, are learning how to successfully run a business on the go. Who do you trust? How do you learn on the go?
  • How they accumulated credit card debt to start the company. Carly and Danielle in fact just emerged from debt, believe it or not.
  • What’s the future of theSkimm? The company recently received a huge round of funding, multi-million dollars. What’s next?

If you would like to learn more about Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin, visit their website www.theskimm.com or follow them on Twitter @DMWeisberg and @cbzakin or @theskimm.

One of my favorite quotes from the interview: “My philosophy is that I need a philosophy. I think we haven’t had the luxury to really get one yet.” – Click to Tweet

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