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 take seemingly uninteresting topics and, by exploring their stories, show that they are actually of interest. "Twice Removed" was Gimlet's first family history podcast, which aimed to prove "we're one big family." The show was announced on December 5, with the first season debuting on December 16, 2016. Featured individuals included Abbi Jacobson of "Broad City", Ted Allen of the Food Network and writer Dan Savage. On June 16, 2017, Gimlet announced that no new episodes would be produced beyond a series finale released that same day. In 2016, Gimlet launched Gimlet Creative, the company's branded podcast division. Gimlet Creative