Jacob Donnelly
@JayCoDon
Followers
6,651
Following
1,384
Media
770
Statuses
9,594
Founder of A Media Operator, a digital media company about building digital media companies. Former @morningbrew & @coindesk
New York, New York
Joined November 2010
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
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Some personal news... I am leaving
@morningbrew
at the EOM because I am going all in on building my own media company, A Media Operator. I've been building AMO on the side for over four years and starting in January, all my professional effort goes into making it a success.
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So some news! I am joining
@MorningBrew
as the GM of the B2B media business and I'm absolutely thrilled.
I am excited to announce that
@JayCoDon
will be joining
@MorningBrew
as the General Manager of our B2B media business.
Jacob is going to help take
@Retail_Brew
,
@MarketingBrew
and
@etechbrew
to the next lever. 🚀🚀🚀
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Over the next six months, more individual creators are going to realize that paid subscriptions inhibit their growth and they can make more money staying free:
* Ads
* Jobs Boards
* Investing
* Consulting
It may not be recurring, but you'll make more money.
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Alright... Now that I am officially part of the
@MorningBrew
team, I've decided to add the coffee cup.
By the way... Everyone should be so lucky to join a company with as much talent as this team has. Holy shit.
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Two weeks after joining Morning Brew, I am looking to have four more people join the B2B team. We've got an exciting 2021 planned across all three verticals, so let's jump in.
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Graydon Carter sells a weekly advertisement in his newsletter for $45,000. He has 110,000 subscribers.
When the audience is high quality, you can charge whatever you want.
Don't tell me, "but the audience is too small." If it's quality, it doesn't matter.
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I am starting to feel like a broken record, but I feel I have to say this again.
Not all ads are bad.
Advertising makes it possible for those that can't afford subscriptions to still get great information.
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The hard part about building a newsletter isn’t the content creation. It’s everything else. Audience development, subscription management, customer support, ad sales and delivery... you know, the things that media companies do.
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I literally work at Morning Brew today because I launched a newsletter fifteen months ago and marketed on Twitter. Austin found my newsletter, became an evangelist for AMO and then hired me.
If that's not reason to be long Twitter, I have no idea what is.
It is tough to explain the power of Twitter to someone who doesn't use it regularly.
Nowhere else can you make friends for life, learn from the smartest people in the world, and connect with people you look up to.
Long Twitter.
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Getting car insurance. And in the agent's email signature, it says:
"It's my job to ask you about life insurance; please don't make it my job to tell your family you didn't have any."
This may be one of the most savage things I have ever read in my entire life.
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@SciGuySpace
Isn't this also the exact opposite of how Bezos wanted to build Blue Origin? Didn't he specifically shun any PR because he believed, in the end, the quality of the product mattered most?
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Big news yesterday from
@sarafischer
about HubSpot acquiring The Hustle for $27m. The reason? It gives HubSpot an incredibly engaged audience that it can, over time, introduce to the HubSpot suite of products. It's potentially a very smart play.
But first... the numbers.
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People should not look at BuzzFeed struggling to hit revenue targets as an indictment against the media business.
People should look at BuzzFeed struggling to hit revenue targets as an indictment against the scale at all cost, VC-funded media business.
Very different.
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@ToliverOVA
@antoniogm
@nikitabier
I think I am going to regret replying because the replies seem a bit contentious, but whatever. You’re both basically right.
Data certainly has value, but data of who someone is without their corresponding engagement isn’t that valuable. I look at it through the lens of b2b
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I won’t lie... when this starts rolling out more broadly, I don’t know why I’d go to Clubhouse. This is pretty seamless and the audio is crystal clear.
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The newsletter should be the foundation of any new media company. You immediately have a direct line of communication with your audience.
From there, you can build:
1. On-site reporting
2. Premium subscriptions
3. Events
But start with the newsletter so you can communicate.
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I agree with so much of this piece regarding
@Jessicalessin
and
@theinformation
. But so many people I see are talking about the vindication vis-a-vis subscriptions.
From my seat, it's more a vindication of her editorial strategy. The Information doesn't chase the same story
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I wish we could agree that no matter your business model, there are adverse side effects.
Ads: Possibility for click bait content
Subscriptions: Possibility for echo chamber content
Commerce: Possibility for trustless content
Business models can't fix not having a vision.
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One year ago today, I joined
@MorningBrew
as GM of B2B and it has been the most exciting year of my professional life.
A lot has happened and there is so much more to come.
This is my appreciation thread for B2B at Morning Brew.
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So many people clutching pearls about Trump getting banned for inciting a coup... these are the same people that say “the markets decide everything.” The markets have spoken.
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And that about wraps it up. Thank you,
@MorningBrew
, for an unbelievable journey. Excited for what comes next!
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A mistake people will make looking at exciting media companies (Morning Brew included) is to assume it happened overnight.
I joined Morning Brew in its 6th year. We're doing amazing things now. But the foundation was started years ago.
Media takes time. There are no shortcuts.
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I'm late with this, but on August 9, 2019, I launched A Media Operator. I could have never imagined where I'd be two years later. I have my dream job, hundreds of people pay to hear what I have to say about media, and I have made new friends. Here's to the next two years.
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Do we overcomplicate building media businesses and it boils down to:
1. Creating great content people can't get anywhere else?
2. Improving the UX so that people can subscribe with ease?
And then get the heck out of the way after that?
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My biggest mistake as a creator is spending most of my time thinking about new content and not enough time promoting my current content.
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My Mom is on her way to get her first Covid vaccine. Eleven months ago, she went on the vent and was one of the first at her hospital to actually survive. I seriously cannot wait for this whole ordeal to be over.
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Walked to get coffee for the first time in a long time. I obviously won't be a millionaire now since I paid for coffee, but damn was it nice to get out and walk around.
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Want to know why I think newsletters are so great?
A billionaire can't shut it down. You own your list; if someone doesn't like what you are saying, oh well. Your list is always your list.
Stop building audiences on rented land. Own your platform.
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Just interviewed a candidate and she said, "honestly, I never heard of b2b and business journalism when I was in j-school across all my various classes."
This is really too bad. J-schools should do a better job letting reporters know about b2b. It pays better and is more stable.
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@joshsternberg
Wait, you don't light the menorah on Passover? I've been doing my seders all wrong...
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Agree that print is on its way back. Was at a media dinner tonight and one b2b operator said that gen Z is seeking out his magazines. Blew my mind.
I do think it’ll have to be niche and it’ll be subscription first rather than trying to maximize distribution for ads.
Betting on print media to make a comeback. It won’t be glossy magazines, maybe it will be an evolution of zines at scale, or something else. Not niche like Monocle or trendy fashion magazine fare. Something halfway mass and meaningful.
Physical and tangible and analog matters
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My math suggests
@SubstackInc
is making $24m a year in revenue now.
According to
@sarafischer
, it hit 2m paid subs. If the average revenue per subscriber is $10/m, that means the Substack network does $240m a year.
Substack takes 10%. And so, $24m in net revenue.
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This could be a very tough next few months for The Athletic.
In a time when nearly all major sports are suspended, ~30-40% of The Athletic’s subscribers are up for their first-year renewal.
Here’s why: 1/11
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One year ago today, I made the impulsive decision to launch A Media Operator. I just wanted an outlet to write about media and hopefully meet some interesting people. A year later, I couldn't be more happy.
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Building a niche media company is about identifying your audience and giving them information regularly. It's easy to get psyched out by the big players, but in the barbell of media, I'd rather be on the small, niche side than the generalist middle.
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Four formulas media operators should remember:
Retention = Non-New Users This Period / Total Users Last Period
Churn Rate = 1 - Retention Rate
ARPU = Revenue in a Time Period / # of Users in Time Period
LTV = (ARPU x Gross Margin %) / Customer Churn Rate
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I am increasingly hearing about companies that are thinking about launching media properties because they're struggling to acquire customers.
This is why I believe audience comes first. You've already got the people you want and you're building product that they want.
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I think this next decade is going to be incredibly exciting for media. Whether it's ad supported, subscription, commerce—there are bright days ahead for the media business.
The secret? Niche is the new scale.
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Yesterday, I texted
@austin_rief
, "I am in love with this business, which pains me since I hated them when I was at CoinDesk."
I am unsure if I've ever done as strong a 180 as I have on
@Blockworks_
. And for an hour last week,
@JasonYanowitz
and I got to chat about what they've
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I've changed my mind on "owning your audience."
There's no such thing as owning your audience. What you own is the communication with the audience.
Rely on Google and social for visitors? You're borrowing from someone else. Rely on email and texting? You own comms.
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This paragraph has me laughing. Who could have predicted media companies had certain departments for a reason? But here we are:
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The next 12 months at Morning Brew are going to be unbelievable. There are some things coming that just look amazing.
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Industry Dive is going to make ~$30m+ in profit this year on over $100m in revenue focusing on niches that the vast majority of us don't think about.
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Today is a special day because A Media Operator turns five years old. So, I thought I'd put down my thoughts on how we got here, what we're doing, and where we're headed.
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A theme over the past 12 months was that media companies like NYT were dead because Substack would steal all the best people.
Now people are shutting down their Substacks to become employees at The New York Times?
It's almost like brand matters.
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A problem with the "individual as a brand" is that bad analysis is considered good simply because that person says it.
Too many people don't look at the analysis and say, "that makes no sense." There's too much faith in the individual and not enough in the method of analysis.
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Why Ritholtz doesn't invest in bitcoin: "...we don’t invest in commodities." It's the first time I've seen a financial advisor offer a legit reason that's not predicated on "it's a scam" or "it's a ponzi."
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I recognize it’s kind of silly, but I just got my
@morningbrew
email and it just reminded me how excited I am. Getting a new email is like a fresh start.
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A Media Operator is a subscription-based publication for those building digital media companies. I send two weekly newsletters discussing what's happening in media and offering strategic and tactical ideas on how to grow and monetize. Sign up:
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One day millennials won't be blamed for literally everything.
Millennial homeownership is causing the US to run out of houses
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The media flywheel is simple.
Create great content. Use that great content to build an audience. Monetize that audience. Use that money to create more content.
But it starts with great content. You can’t be sustainable without it.
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I spoke to twenty students last night for an FT program on journalism. And like I expected, almost no one knew what B2B media was.
Most J Schools do a serious disservice to their students by not teaching that this opportunity exists. You can do amazing reporting in niches.
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Hey
@SubstackInc
writers. It's not well publicized, but Substack actually makes it possible for you to use Google Analytics to track conversions and get incredible data. It only takes three steps and five minutes of your time.
Here's how...
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Since a lot of people at Ozy just lost their job, I thought I'd share that
@MorningBrew
is hiring across edit, sales, design, growth, etc. We are profitable, growing, and I'd say a pretty damn good place to work. You can learn more here:
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I still can't believe people were saying that THIS time, New York City would die. Fools.
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Have to respect the absolute hustle of these reporters.
Harvard classes don't start for another few weeks and yet here they are breaking a big scoop.
#BREAKINGNEWS
HARVARD PRESIDENT CLAUDINE GAY RESIGNS, SHORTEST TENURE IN UNIVERSITY HISTORY
@HaidarEmma
&
@cam_kettles
report.
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Page speed is now a ranking factor, according to Google.
Too many publishers clog their sites with tracking pixels and ad tech that slows the experience down. This will result in less revenue.
Clean up your site. Get faster. Make more money.
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There's a real upside to sponsoring
@MorningBrew
. 2,000,000+ people might see my ad. There's also a real downside... Every other media company is on that list and now my inbox is being swarmed with ad sales people.
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Really excited to have Josh joining us on the B2B team at Morning Brew. We've got some really exciting things coming and Josh's a great thinker who has years of experience making writers and editors stronger!
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Anyone else buy far more books than they’ll ever be able to read?
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The B2B team (
@etechbrew
,
@MarketingBrew
, and
@Retail_Brew
) have gone through a fundamental change in our content strategy. Whereas before, we were aggregating industry news from many of our contemporaries, now we are actively reporting and finding our own stories.
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If a journalist can monetize their Twitter feed with a $4.99/m subscription, will a media company say they can't? Journalists are allowed to write books and become contributors to TV channels; can they do this too?
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The future is incredibly bright for the media business. Ads, subscriptions, commerce, events... the future is bright for all of it.
But most of that bright future is with niche media companies.
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2nd shot, done. 11,000+ people going through Javits today. Really incredible. Who wants to meet up in two weeks in the very much alive NYC? I’ve made so many friends on Twitter this year, it’d be awesome to meet.
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@TheStalwart
I think you might have more fun than anyone else on this app.
This made me laugh hard.
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"Morning Brew generated about $50 million in sales in 2021... The company has been profitable since its inception, with current margins "in the double digits.""
Media does work as a business.
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I love that Axios Pro charges like $600 for a newsletter and STILL sell ads in it.
This is genuine, not sarcastic. Of course advertisers want to target people who will spend $600 on a newsletter. And no reader will truly complain.
Ads & subs work hand in hand.
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It's funny. I get an ad every day to subscribe to the WSJ. I actually really want to. But knowing that if I ever want to cancel, it's going to take me 247,331 steps, I always close the subscription page down.
Friction is bad for all businesses.
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When I started planning the AMO Summit, one piece of advice I got from a friend was to invest in production. People don't want to walk in and see a cheap looking event (there are enough of those in media).
After talking with Skift's CEO,
@rafat
, on Thursday, I realize how
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If this is actually true, then Substack needs to double down on building tools for individuals to create these multiple sku businesses. It sounds very fatalist to say that for most people, this is closer to tips. That's a self-inflicted wound.
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Why does everyone care about their Twitter following numbers so badly? Top line numbers don't matter if the people aren't engaged.
I'd rather grow slowly from people that actually want to hear me.
Now RT this and smash that follow button because dopamine is a helluva drug.
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Just saying... The expert technicians at Morning Brew predicted this pullback in price.
*not investment advice, please do not trust scribbles for investment advice. (That also means real technical analysis)
Some technical analysis on Airbnb:
If it crashes it will look like a house
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The joy on someone's face when they realize someone will pay them to do something they love is next level.
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It doesn’t matter if you’re building a media company, real estate, agency, software company… niche is better than general. Do one thing exceptionally well and you’ll have success for life.
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It’s event day. After months of preparation, today’s the AMO Summit.
Wow.
I’m so grateful to everyone that paid to come, the speakers who gave their time to be on stage, and the sponsors who believed in this audience to make a big investment.
@OmedaDataDriven
,
@BlueConic
,
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This is the wrong way to look at leverage.
Of course, creating a newsletter for 500,000 people vs. 10,000 is the same amount of work; however, what kind of content can you create for 500,000 people that is not derivative or general?
But I solidly make more money with my 6,100
I think local newsletters are great...
But they’re not scalable by default.
So you're missing out on the best thing about media: leverage.
Same effort for 20K audience as 500K audience.
That’s why I shut down my local newsletter with 10K subscribers.
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Creator burnout is real. I took this week off from AMO and readers have been supportive of that. When you’re the face of the product, readers start to care about the individual and will understand you needing a refresh.
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Jacob: I don't want to write my newsletter tonight. Can you?
Victoria: Sure. I'll write about how you have to own your email list, something about 1st party data, how Apple means you can't track opens anymore, e-commerce is screwed for Q4, etc.
I talk too much about work.
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Told my girlfriend (who edits A Media Operator) that Google needs two more years to get rid of 3rd party cookies.
Her response: "Oh, good, that means I have to read about them going away and how you need 1st party data for another two years."
I don't think she's enthused.
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Girlfriend just got her first shot. I get mine on Sunday. Can’t believe a year ago we had just shut down and now we’re getting vaccinated. Also, Javits is a damn machine.
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Using girlfriend’s paper stars to track ticket sales for the AMO Summit. On the right is what’s sold; on the left is what I still need to do.
103 days to go; I’ve got work to do!
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It's been a year, but I am excited because the AMO podcast is back. My guest this week is
@AdamRy_n
, co-founder and CEO of
@workweekinc
. We talked about the creator-first business they're building and the long-term ambition the team has.
Sponsored by
@OmedaDataDriven
.
👇
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Publishers should want to own the relationship with their advertisers. It moves the ad impression from a commodity to something a little more impactful.
Digiday is reporting that publishers are more reliant on directly sold advertising than pre-pandemic.
It's framed as troubling but, if true, it is a sign of real progress for media companies. We might start valuing our unique audiences again.
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The best part of recording a weekly podcast with media operators and executives is all the new things I learn. I get an hour of time with a busy person and just learn. It’s a great thing.
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Hey writers! We're looking for a writer to join
@halie_lesavage
in creating the thrice weekly Retail Brew. We're going to do great things at Morning Brew in 2021. If you know anyone, please send them my way.
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Sometimes when talking to new media entrepreneurs, you have to remind them that just because they irrationally hate advertisements, it doesn't mean everyone else does. Don't build your business model based on your preferences; build it on your audience.
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When you're skeptical of something, it might be grounded in a lack of knowledge. It helps to talk to people smarter than you on said topic and ask questions.
That's been my entire career to date and I did it again today. It never gets old.
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I charge $20/m for a subscription to AMO. But the first couple months of going paid, I only charged $10. I love seeing those $10 charges in Stripe because it means I’ve got paying subs who have been with me over a year. That’s amazing.
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My calendar has never looked so empty. Being between jobs is liberating.
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It's been a busy couple of months with hiring on the B2B team at
@MorningBrew
. I'm excited for the people that are joining the team. However! There are still a couple more roles that I am looking to fill.
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The team behind Deadspin have come out and launched an employee owned media company in the vein of their former publication.
This is different than most other launches we've seen over the past few months. Here's why...
"If you’re going to take a moonshot, you may as well do it exactly the way you want to."
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What a great event this year! Thanks to everyone for coming out to
#Consensus2019
. So excited to be part of the
@coindesk
team!
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According to this
@MarkStenberg3
story,
@Kantrowitz
is selling ads for $4,000 per week with 9,300 subscribers and a 33% open rate plus some podcasting and site traffic. My calculations suggest it's probably close to $1,000 CPM. Damn.
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