How the Next Audience Is Rewriting the Media Business Model

Feb 27, 2026

Billy Carney, co-founder of RocaNews and product strategist who built a Gen Z–first media brand from an Instagram experiment into a profitable multi-product business. He discusses Instagram-first product design, how Gen Z consumes news differently, subscription and gamified app monetization, turning followers into paid users, and scaling revenue with video and newsletters.

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ANECDOTE

Started As An Instagram Experiment

RocaNews launched as an Instagram experiment because founders felt no outlet spoke to them as young readers.
For six months nothing worked, then iterative testing and persistence produced formats that resonated and grew the audience.

INSIGHT

Quick Cards Make News Snackable On Instagram

Gen Z prefers short, highly consumable formats delivered where they already are, so Roca's flagship Instagram 'quick cards' show four stories with bite-sized bullets.
The first slide is a meme hook, then four concise story slides, making news digestible and platform-native.

INSIGHT

News Finds Gen Z Through Ambient Social Feeds

News discovery for younger people is ambient: it arrives inside their social feeds rather than via standalone subscriptions.
Roca targets readers earlier in life to capture habits before they migrate toward legacy subscription products.

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In this episode of The Revenue Room™ Podcast, Heather Holst-Knudsen sits down with Billy Carney, Co-Founder of RocaNews, to explore how a next-generation media company built for Gen Z turned social attention into owned revenue and profitability.

Launched in 2020 as an Instagram experiment, RocaNews has grown to more than 3 million followers and subscribers across social platforms, newsletters, a gamified news app, and YouTube. With a lean team of roughly 11 people, the company became profitable in late 2024 and quickly crossed $1M in annual recurring revenue, challenging long-held assumptions about young audiences, subscriptions, and media economics.

Why Listen

This episode is essential listening for CEOs and media executives who are:

Rethinking audience growth in a platform-first world
Looking to diversify revenue beyond advertising
Exploring product-led growth in media and information services
Trying to reach Gen Z without eroding brand trust
Building sustainable, profitable media businesses in a data-driven economy

Connect with Billy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billy-carney-02a041152/

If you’re a CEO, CRO, product leader, or media operator navigating the future of digital media, this conversation delivers practical insight into how new business models are being built from the ground up.

About RevvedUP 2026
RevvedUP 2026 is where CEOs and revenue-critical C-Suite leaders reset their growth playbook for the AI-first economy. Taking place March 23–24, 2026 at The Vinoy Resort in St. Petersburg, FL, this two-day strategy lab helps leaders pressure-test how AI moves from cost center to growth driver and turn data and disruption into competitive advantage.

About Heather Holst-Knudsen
Heather Holst-Knudsen is the founder and CEO of H2K Labs and Revenue Room™ Connect. A seasoned executive and operator across media, marketplaces, events, and technology, she specializes in digital transformation, data-driven growth, and customer-centric value creation. Heather shares her insights on multisided business models through The Revenue Room™.

About Revenue Room™ CXO
Revenue Room™ CXO is a private executive community for CEOs and revenue-critical C-Suite leaders navigating growth in the data and AI economy. Through curated peer discussions and strategy sprints, members tackle real-world challenges in revenue transformation, customer intelligence, and business model innovation.

Learn more or apply for membership at info.h2klabs.com/apply-cxo.