This Company Is Rewiring the Economics of TV Advertising
Tatari, founded in 2016, is reshaping TV advertising by turning it into a data‑driven, performance‑focused channel. The company replaces traditional reach‑based metrics with outcome‑based measurement that links ad exposure to website visits, purchases, and app installs. Its software platform automates campaign planning, buying, and optimization, delivering next‑day results through deterministic and probabilistic models. By integrating directly with publishers, Tatari lowers the cost and complexity barrier for mid‑size brands seeking TV exposure.
How a Yoga Teacher Turned Bedtime Stories Into a Media Empire
Kathryn Nicolai, a former yoga teacher, turned bedtime storytelling into the wildly popular sleep‑podcast *Nothing Much Happens*. Launched in 2018, the show now exceeds 200 million lifetime downloads and has expanded into books, subscriptions, and a broader wellness brand. By deliberately...
How Axios Local Is Leveraging AI to Expand Into Smaller Cities
Axios Local is extending its newsletter‑first news model into smaller cities by leveraging artificial intelligence to trim newsroom costs. The company’s original high‑touch approach relied on multi‑reporter teams, which worked in large metros but proved unsustainable in markets with limited...
How a Professional Voice Actor Built a Hit Indie Game Studio
Robbie Daymond, a prolific voice actor, has transformed his career into a multi‑platform creator business, co‑founding indie studio Sassy Chap Games and earning a large share of his income from fan conventions. His studio’s dating‑sim became one of the fastest‑selling...
From MrBeast to Microdramas: Scott Brown’s Bet on Phone-Native Storytelling
Scott Brown, a veteran of Hollywood‑creator collaborations, is championing microdramas—short, vertically‑shot scripted series built for smartphones—through his company Second Rodeo. After pioneering digital formats for Larry King, The Rock’s YouTube launch, and MrBeast stunts, Brown sees microdramas as the first...
How Starter Story Grew From a Side Project Into a Multi-Million Dollar Media Business (and Why HubSpot Bought It)
Starter Story began in 2017 as a side‑project blog interviewing founders and quickly grew into a bootstrapped media company. By leveraging detailed case studies, the platform amassed over 800,000 YouTube subscribers and generated millions in revenue through premium courses and...
The Playbook Behind One of the Fastest-Growing Social-First Newsrooms
The News Movement, launched in 2020, built a newsroom that creates journalism native to TikTok, Instagram and YouTube Shorts, targeting Gen Z. Its reporters are “triple‑threat” video journalists who shoot, edit and publish stories directly on social feeds, bypassing traditional websites....
The Accidental Ad Tech Founder: Eric Hochberger’s 20-Year Bet on the Open Web
Eric Hochberger co‑founded Mediavine in 2004 as a collection of SEO‑driven fan sites. After years of selling sidebar ads and consulting, the company built its own header bidding platform in 2014, which quadrupled revenue and shifted Mediavine into a full‑service...
How a Former Hedge Fund Analyst Built a Six-Figure Newsletter Covering Asia’s Overlooked Stocks
Michael Fritzell, a former hedge‑fund analyst with 15 years in investment banking and buy‑side roles, left finance in 2021 to launch Asian Century Stocks, a paid newsletter spotlighting overlooked Chinese and Southeast Asian companies. Leveraging his Mandarin fluency and on‑the‑ground...
Meta Keeps Finding New Ways to Not Pay Its Creators
Meta’s new Facebook creator monetization program has exploded to 12 million participants, yet the platform still distributes only about $2 billion to creators each year. By contrast, YouTube shares more than $30 billion, and Instagram Reels generate $50 billion in revenue with minimal payouts....
Every News Outlet Should Produce a Video Podcast
Simon Owens discusses why every news outlet should launch a video podcast, highlighting The Guardian’s new daily video show as a model. He argues that video podcasts are a low‑cost way to repurpose text journalism, build journalists’ personal brands, and...
A Couple Teenagers Launched a Media Company that Now Drives 240 Billion Annual Views
The episode explores how teenage founders, led by 25‑year‑old Kit Chilvers, built Pubity Group into a media powerhouse with 170 million followers and an estimated 240 billion annual views, all without external funding. Chilvers explains his early start on Instagram in 2014,...