自2018年成立以来,位于布鲁克林的一家名为Blockworks的公司在受到严重冲击的媒体行业实现了一个罕见的壮举:成为了一家独立的盈利公司。Blockworks通过打造一个针对加密货币行业的播客网络获得了成功,其主打节目包括由知名初创企业家主持的《Pomp Podcast》。
如今,Blockworks的创始人杰森·亚诺维茨和迈克尔·伊波利托将加倍下注其媒体行业抱负,推出了一个同名新闻网站,按照他们的话来说就是“彭博遇到Morning Brew”(Morning Brew是一家外带咖啡店——译者注)。这两位创始人看到了华尔街传统领域与新出现的金融科技和加密货币行业之间存在的交汇点,并认为自己可以在此处俘获一定的受众群。
伊波利托在谈到这一点时说:“我们发现了一个机构性细分市场,其中缺乏有关这些话题的高质量信息。”他还谈到了安全公司Microstrategy的首席执行官在去年如何通过向董事会展示YouTube视频,来解释其加密货币计划。Microstrategy公司于去年购买了2.5亿美元的比特币充当其企业资产。
在这个日渐拥挤的加密货币媒体行业,Blockworks只不过是一名新手。它的同行包括为机构投资者提供各类新闻和研究的The Block,以及报道新兴加密货币领域等内容的Decrypt,例如“去中心化金融”,又称DeFi。
这些新闻网站的出现意味着,对当前加密货币热(或是你认为的泡沫)的报道将不同于以往。在过去,两家早期交易刊物《Coindesk》和《CoinTelegraph》,与一小撮博主,一直在报道行业的盛衰。这些博主包括后续创建另一家加密货币媒体和研究公司Messari的Ryan Selkis (也就是 Two-Bit Idiot)。
《Coindesk》的执行编辑本·席勒注意到当前热潮与此前热潮的另一个不同之处:主流媒体对加密货币的报道激情有所降低。当比特币价格创下历史跌幅新高时,以及银行和企业对加密货币趋之若鹜时,这一现象也出现过。
席勒称,当前的加密货币热意味着,各大刊物都有空间来挖掘有利于自身的不同细分市场。然而他还指出,如果这些刊物在未来几年中无法建立稳健的业务基础,那么其中一些公司将关门大吉或被收购。
席勒对此可谓是深有体会。他曾经执掌一家短命的加密货币刊物《Breaker Magazine》一年多的时间,然后该公司在2019年突然倒闭。尽管曾经发布过多篇备受赞誉的调查性文章,但该刊物并未在报道业务之外找到一项补充性的业务策略。
Blockworks去年的营收为350万美元,略有盈利。Blockworks的创始人认为,公司已经发现了一项可行的策略,即专注于为企业制作媒体和信息内容。
伊波利托称:“我认为媒体行业的表现普遍令人担忧,但有些公司的业绩十分不错。我们在B2B领域发现了一个不那么吸引人但具有盈利性的细分市场。”他还表示,Blockworks一开始将通过销售广告来支持其5人编辑团队,但也在探索其他收入来源。
尽管Blockworks认为自己找到了一个成功的策略,但推出媒体业务的风险比以往任何时候都高。新冠疫情基本上摧毁了从事现场活动的行业,而这一行业已经成为了各类媒体公司的主要收入支柱。尽管媒体机构已经实现了其众多活动的虚拟化,但相比之下,来自于门票销售和赞助的收入却是杯水车薪,而且很多即将入行的企业都出现了Zoom疲劳问题。
此外,这里还有社交媒体平台,它已经吞食了此前流向新公司的大多数广告收入。席勒发现,加密货币媒体公司不得不与这些平台开展竞争,竞争的内容不仅仅是钱,还有影响力和注意力。
他指出,加密货币领域众多影响力大拿都不愿意使用媒体机构作为中介,而是喜欢通过推特和Medium这类平台,直接向公众发声,而更广泛的科技行业也存在这一趋势。
由于面临着这类挑战,一些小规模公司最美好的愿望可能是成为金融媒体巨头彭博或《华尔街日报》的旗下公司。然而《商业内幕》杂志报道媒体行业的编辑拉拉·欧瑞利指出,大型公司可能更愿意去挖这些加密货币行业小媒体公司的人才,而不是花钱立即收购它们。
欧瑞利还表示,对于那些寻找新垂直业务或通过合并来寻找出路的大型B2B出版商来说,这些小公司可能会成为其眼中的香饽饽。
她在发给《财富》杂志的电子邮件中说:“加密货币领域的一些小媒体公司很有可能会合并,尤其是那些受众没有多大差别,而且广告商重叠率不高的小公司。”(财富中文网)
译者:冯丰
审校:夏林
自2018年成立以来,位于布鲁克林的一家名为Blockworks的公司在受到严重冲击的媒体行业实现了一个罕见的壮举:成为了一家独立的盈利公司。Blockworks通过打造一个针对加密货币行业的播客网络获得了成功,其主打节目包括由知名初创企业家主持的《Pomp Podcast》。
如今,Blockworks的创始人杰森·亚诺维茨和迈克尔·伊波利托将加倍下注其媒体行业抱负,推出了一个同名新闻网站,按照他们的话来说就是“彭博遇到Morning Brew”(Morning Brew是一家外带咖啡店——译者注)。这两位创始人看到了华尔街传统领域与新出现的金融科技和加密货币行业之间存在的交汇点,并认为自己可以在此处俘获一定的受众群。
伊波利托在谈到这一点时说:“我们发现了一个机构性细分市场,其中缺乏有关这些话题的高质量信息。”他还谈到了安全公司Microstrategy的首席执行官在去年如何通过向董事会展示YouTube视频,来解释其加密货币计划。Microstrategy公司于去年购买了2.5亿美元的比特币充当其企业资产。
在这个日渐拥挤的加密货币媒体行业,Blockworks只不过是一名新手。它的同行包括为机构投资者提供各类新闻和研究的The Block,以及报道新兴加密货币领域等内容的Decrypt,例如“去中心化金融”,又称DeFi。
这些新闻网站的出现意味着,对当前加密货币热(或是你认为的泡沫)的报道将不同于以往。在过去,两家早期交易刊物《Coindesk》和《CoinTelegraph》,与一小撮博主,一直在报道行业的盛衰。这些博主包括后续创建另一家加密货币媒体和研究公司Messari的Ryan Selkis (也就是 Two-Bit Idiot)。
《Coindesk》的执行编辑本·席勒注意到当前热潮与此前热潮的另一个不同之处:主流媒体对加密货币的报道激情有所降低。当比特币价格创下历史跌幅新高时,以及银行和企业对加密货币趋之若鹜时,这一现象也出现过。
席勒称,当前的加密货币热意味着,各大刊物都有空间来挖掘有利于自身的不同细分市场。然而他还指出,如果这些刊物在未来几年中无法建立稳健的业务基础,那么其中一些公司将关门大吉或被收购。
席勒对此可谓是深有体会。他曾经执掌一家短命的加密货币刊物《Breaker Magazine》一年多的时间,然后该公司在2019年突然倒闭。尽管曾经发布过多篇备受赞誉的调查性文章,但该刊物并未在报道业务之外找到一项补充性的业务策略。
Blockworks去年的营收为350万美元,略有盈利。Blockworks的创始人认为,公司已经发现了一项可行的策略,即专注于为企业制作媒体和信息内容。
伊波利托称:“我认为媒体行业的表现普遍令人担忧,但有些公司的业绩十分不错。我们在B2B领域发现了一个不那么吸引人但具有盈利性的细分市场。”他还表示,Blockworks一开始将通过销售广告来支持其5人编辑团队,但也在探索其他收入来源。
尽管Blockworks认为自己找到了一个成功的策略,但推出媒体业务的风险比以往任何时候都高。新冠疫情基本上摧毁了从事现场活动的行业,而这一行业已经成为了各类媒体公司的主要收入支柱。尽管媒体机构已经实现了其众多活动的虚拟化,但相比之下,来自于门票销售和赞助的收入却是杯水车薪,而且很多即将入行的企业都出现了Zoom疲劳问题。
此外,这里还有社交媒体平台,它已经吞食了此前流向新公司的大多数广告收入。席勒发现,加密货币媒体公司不得不与这些平台开展竞争,竞争的内容不仅仅是钱,还有影响力和注意力。
他指出,加密货币领域众多影响力大拿都不愿意使用媒体机构作为中介,而是喜欢通过推特和Medium这类平台,直接向公众发声,而更广泛的科技行业也存在这一趋势。
由于面临着这类挑战,一些小规模公司最美好的愿望可能是成为金融媒体巨头彭博或《华尔街日报》的旗下公司。然而《商业内幕》杂志报道媒体行业的编辑拉拉·欧瑞利指出,大型公司可能更愿意去挖这些加密货币行业小媒体公司的人才,而不是花钱立即收购它们。
欧瑞利还表示,对于那些寻找新垂直业务或通过合并来寻找出路的大型B2B出版商来说,这些小公司可能会成为其眼中的香饽饽。
她在发给《财富》杂志的电子邮件中说:“加密货币领域的一些小媒体公司很有可能会合并,尤其是那些受众没有多大差别,而且广告商重叠率不高的小公司。”(财富中文网)
译者:冯丰
审校:夏林
Since launching in 2018, a Brooklyn firm called Blockworks has pulled off a rare feat in the battered media industry: Building a profitable, independent company. The firm found success by building a podcast network that caters to the cryptocurrency world, featuring shows like the "Pomp Podcast," hosted by a popular startup entrepreneur.
Now the Blockworks founders, Jason Yanowitz and Michael Ippolito, are doubling down on their media ambitions with an eponymous news site they describe as "Bloomberg meets Morning Brew." The pair sees a convergence between the traditional world of Wall Street and the upstart fintech and crypto industries—and believes they can build an audience at that intersection.
"We identified an institutional niche where there's a lack of quality information on these topics," said Ippolito, citing how the CEO of security firm Microstrategy—which last year bought $250 million in Bitcoin for its corporate treasury—resorted to showing his board YouTube videos to explain his crypto plans.
Blockworks is just the latest arrival in the increasingly crowded field of crypto media. The site joins The Block, which offers a mix of news and research aimed at institutional investors, and Decrypt, whose coverage includes the emerging crypto field of "decentralized finance" or DeFi.
The presence of these news sites has meant the coverage of the current crypto boom (or bubble, if you prefer) is different than earlier ones. In the past, two early trade publications, Coindesk and CoinTelegraph, covered the ins and outs of the industry alongside a handful of bloggers—including Ryan Selkis (aka Two-Bit Idiot) who went on to found another crypto media and research firm, Messari.
Ben Schiller, a managing editor at Coindesk, notes another difference from previous booms in that there has been less hype in the mainstream press about crypto. This has been the case even as Bitcoin prices smash records, and as banks and corporations have embraced it like never before.
According to Schiller, the current boom means there's room for the various publications to carve out different niches for themselves. But he adds that some will fold or get acquired if they're unable to establish solid business foundations in the coming years.
Schiller knows this firsthand. For more than a year, he helmed a short-lived crypto publication called Breaker Magazine that shut down abruptly in 2019. Despite publishing several lauded investigative pieces, Breaker never found a business strategy to complement its reporting.
The founders of Blockworks, which made a modest profit on $3.5 million of revenue last year, believe they have found a viable strategy by focusing on producing media and information content for businesses.
"I agree the media industry is broadly fraught, but there’s pockets doing quite well. We found an unsexy but profitable niche in B2B," said Ippolito, who adds Blockworks will initially support its five-person editorial team by selling ads, but is exploring other revenue streams.
While Blockworks believes it's hits on a successful strategy, the perils of launching a media business are great as ever. The pandemic has largely wiped out the live-events industry, which had become a key revenue pillar for media companies of all stripes. While media outlets have reinvented many of their events as virtual ones, the earnings from ticket sales and sponsorships are paltry in comparison, and many would-be attendees are experiencing Zoom fatigue.
Then there are social media platforms, which have gobbled most of the ad revenue that used to flow to news companies. Schiller notes that crypto media companies have to compete with these platforms not only for money, but for clout and attention.
He points out that many influential figures in crypto—echoing a trend in the broader tech industry—are reluctant to use media outlets as intermediaries, preferring instead to speak to the public directly on platforms like Twitter and Medium.
In the face of such challenges, the best hope for some of the smaller players may be to get absorbed into the financial media empires of Bloomberg or the Wall Street Journal. But Lara O'Reilly, an editor who covers the media industry at Business Insider, notes that the big companies may prefer to poach the talent of the crypto minnows rather than pay to acquire them outright.
O'Reilly added that the smaller companies could be appealing targets to big B2B publishers looking for new verticals, or finding a way forward by banding together.
"It's probably likely some of the smaller crypto media companies will merge, particularly if they serve slightly different audiences and don't share too many of the same advertisers," she said in an email to Fortune.