How Chris Koerner Built a 7-Figure Newsletter Using AI with beehiiv

Situation:

Chris Koerner is a serial entrepreneur with over 80 businesses launched, including 10 seven–eight-figure companies. When he started his newsletter, he applied the same systems-first mindset that built his previous ventures.

He discovered one wild insight:
95–97% of his newsletter readers weren’t listening to his podcast.

Meaning… he had an enormous library of content his audience had never seen.
So Koerner built a system to repurpose it.

Today, his newsletter:

• Maintains a 55% open rate
• Adds 10,000–20,000+ new subscribers per month
• Generates $3,000–$7,000 per send
• Operates like a 7-figure business powered by AI and beehiiv

Challenge:

Koerner’s early newsletter days were chaotic:

“Every week I’d be like, ‘Crap, what do I send this week?’”

Like most creators, he was:

• Running out of ideas
• Fighting writer’s block
• Spending hours reinventing content
• Struggling to systematize and scale

He needed a way to:

1. Create content consistently without starting from scratch
2. Turn his podcast library into a repeatable newsletter engine
3. Monetize attention instead of chasing algorithms

So he built a workflow that eliminated guesswork entirely.

Solution:

1. Building a custom AI content engine

A newsletter reader once built a “KoernerGPT” for him. That sparked the idea for a more advanced model:

• A custom Claude GPT (Opus 4.0)
• Trained on Koerner’s podcast transcripts, voice, tone, and writing
• Designed to convert episodes into new, high-engagement newsletter issues

This system now produces:

• Drafts
• Hooks
• Frameworks
• Story breakdowns
• Actionable summaries

…all in Koerner’s voice.

“It’s not generic AI content. It’s still me — just in a different format.”

These emails now earn the highest engagement across his entire funnel.

2. Monetizing with a multi-stream revenue system

Koerner treats his newsletter like a profit center, not a vanity project.

Revenue streams include:

• beehiiv Ad Network
• Direct brand deals
• Custom sponsorships ($3K–$7K per send)

Sponsors stick because:

• His list is highly engaged
• His content converts
• His audience trusts him

3. Scaling growth using beehiiv

beehiiv powers every part of Koerner’s system:

• Automated campaigns
• Referral rewards
• Built-in polls and feedback
• Segmentation by behavior
• A workflow that requires almost no manual effort

Koerner summarizes it simply:

“beehiiv is the best money I spend in my business.”

4. Radical transparency = community trust

Koerner treats his newsletter like a private group chat:

• Behind-the-scenes screenshots
• Revenue breakdowns
• Failed business stories
• Weekly wins + losses

That rawness drives loyalty — and conversions — more than polished social posts ever could.

5. A feedback loop that improves the product

Every issue includes polls and open-ended responses.

Readers leave long, thoughtful comments like:

• “This helped me launch my business.”
• “I needed this today.”

This turns each email into a data engine, telling Koerner exactly what to publish next.

Results:

With his AI engine + beehiiv infrastructure, Koerner has:

• Built a 7-figure newsletter business
• Earned $3K–$7K per issue
• Maintained a 55% open rate
• Achieved 10K–20K+ monthly subscriber growth
• Created a repeatable system that compounds

He now plans to launch a daily newsletter, citing the “insane monetization potential.”

Koerner’s playbook proves:
Newsletters aren’t just content — they’re businesses.
And with the right mix of AI, repurposing, and beehiiv, any creator can scale the same way.