Gimlet Media British advertising firm WPP announced it was investing $5 million in Gimlet for a minority stake in the company. Alex Blumberg, a radio journalist, producer for "This American Life", and co-founder of "Planet Money", came up with the idea of a for-profit podcast network after the success of a T-shirt fundraising campaign for "Planet Money". He chose to document the foundation of Gimlet in the first season of "StartUp", the company's first show. Gimlet's co-founder, Matthew Lieber, holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, is a former radio producer at WNYC, and worked as a management consultant
Gimlet Media in the competitive online dating market, as well as the sexism ingrained in Silicon Valley culture. The third season changed the format, exploring a different business every episode, while the fourth season focused on American Apparel founder Dov Charney. Seasons five and six both focus on a variety of businesses in various stages. "Alex, Inc.", a TV sitcom based on Blumberg, "StartUp", and Gimlet Media, debuted on ABC on March 28, 2018. On November 24, 2014, Gimlet's second show, "Reply All", made its debut. Billed as "a show about the internet", "Reply All" is hosted by PJ Vogt and Alex