1 Smart Business Story: Email will never die episode artwork

EPISODE · Feb 16, 2026 · 21 MIN

1 Smart Business Story: Email will never die

from The Business Model by Inc. · host Inc.

If the phrases “small business” and “email marketing” sound right for a company built in the past, think again.     Flodesk, which built a platform for small businesses and solopreneurs to create branded emails, has taken its idea to the bank. Once a Y Combinator reject, the company recently passed $36 million in annual recurring revenue and appointed co-founder Rebecca Shostak as CEO.    Shostak spent months in Vietnam working with the company’s tech team to build new AI features. Her next move aims to have the company competing with the likes of Canva, vibe-coding its own design and design elements.     Inc. reporter Jennifer Conrad joins senior editor Rob Verger to show how Flodesk is making the old technology of email new again.

If the phrases “small business” and “email marketing” sound right for a company built in the past, think again.     Flodesk, which built a platform for small businesses and solopreneurs to create branded emails, has taken its idea to the bank. Once a Y Combinator reject, the company recently passed $36 million in annual recurring revenue and appointed co-founder Rebecca Shostak as CEO.    Shostak spent months in Vietnam working with the company’s tech team to build new AI features. Her next move aims to have the company competing with the likes of Canva, vibe-coding its own design and design elements.     Inc. reporter Jennifer Conrad joins senior editor Rob Verger to show how Flodesk is making the old technology of email new again.

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1 Smart Business Story: Email will never die

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This episode was published on February 16, 2026.

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If the phrases “small business” and “email marketing” sound right for a company built in the past, think again.     Flodesk, which built a platform for small businesses and solopreneurs to create branded emails, has taken its idea to the bank....

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