The AMO Show

This week we have a special edition of the AMO Podcast with Todd Handy, the chief revenue officer at SEBPO, a leading global outsourcing partner that serves the advertising, media, and technology industries. In this discussion, we dig into how companies should properly think about outsourcing, the scale, save, and succeed framework, how to overcome or avoid the common mistakes and fears in outsourcing, and why media companies need to be thinking about dual transformation. I hope you enjoy this discussion.

Jim VandeHei, co-founder and CEO of Axios, shares insights from his media journey, including founding Politico. He highlights why Axios stays ad-based instead of paywalled and their strategic expansion into local news and niche subscriptions. VandeHei discusses potential mergers and the unique economics of D.C. media. Additionally, he introduces his new book, 'Just the Good Stuff,' emphasizing management lessons and how they support underprivileged children with its proceeds. Tune in for a deep dive into media innovation and leadership!

My guest this week is Andrew Perlman, co-founder and CEO of Recurrent. In this 45 minute conversation, we talked about the firm’s M&A strategy, their thesis on content to commerce and the various revenue sources, how they are thinking about platforms cutting into traffic to publisher sites, and how they’ve structured the teams with various GMs across the portfolio. I hope you enjoy our discussion.

My guest this week is Andy Cates, the President and founding Chair of Memphis Fourth Estate, a 501(c)(3) that launched and operates The Daily Memphian. In this conversation, we talked about why The Daily Memphian care so much about reaching break even on operating revenue versus purely fundraising, the inherent challenges they have raising money from national journalism funders due to this belief in building sustainably, how they’ve thought about growth over the six years of its existence, and so much more. I hope you enjoy our discussion.

Stephanie Kaplan Lewis, Co-founder and CEO of Her Campus Media, discusses bootstrapping her business. Topics include empowering Gen Z, campus chapters, pandemic career platform, revenue strategies, team structure, and lessons in building a community for media businesses.

Isaac Saul, founder of Tangle, discusses building a politically diverse media platform, strategies for engaging content creation, challenges in media growth, cross-partisan conversations, transitioning to Ghost, and advice on building a successful media business.

Ellen Hyslop, Co-founder of The Gist, discusses building a fan-first sports media brand, growth tactics, user onboarding impact on content, ad products, and future plans. Topics include inclusivity, email engagement strategies, revenue generation, event planning, technology backbone, funding journey, and career choices in the media industry.

Brian Van Heuverswyn, COO of Active Interest Media, dives into the exciting world of niche publishing. He discusses the recent acquisition of Taunton Press and its significance in expanding their gardening and woodworking brands. The conversation highlights a strategic shift towards digital, integrating audience engagement with data management. Brian shares insights on navigating revenue challenges, maintaining brand integrity, and leveraging events for monetization. He also touches on the future of generative AI in media, encouraging innovative growth strategies for success.

A CEO discusses growing a Canadian B2B media company, revenue shift from print to digital, challenges in the print industry, lead driver marketing campaigns, evolving revenue strategies, client reporting improvements, future growth strategy, and building a strong leadership team.

Mitch Bettis is the owner and President of both Arkansas Business Publishing Group and 360 West Magazine in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. In this episodewe discuss how he came to own Arkansas Business, how the business has evolved from generating predominantly print revenue to diversified sources, the various consumer and b2b brands that he owns, and why he believes time tracking is so important.