Modern MBA

The Mythical Economics of Content Creation (2025x5)

Air date: Apr 27, 2025

Buzzfeed and VICE were the digital unicorns of the 2010s. In this fast-emerging era of smartphones and video, these two companies had seemingly figured the secret sauce to go viral in this new online world. Backed by flourishing viewership, Buzzfeed and VICE fundraised their way to multi-billion dollar valuations, using the investment to elevate production value, expand genres, and build newsrooms of their own. As these startups expanded into journalism, the once-clear line that divided old media and digital media vanished. They collected Emmys and Pulitzers for their work. The viewership, quality, and virality was visible to all - and it wasn’t hard for the public and venture capitalists to be convinced that Buzzfeed and VICE had become for millennials what the NYT, CNN, and Fox were for boomers. There were also smaller startups like Vox, Thrillist, Mashable, and Insider who surged off the same tailwinds.