Navigating media's ups and downs with theSkimm co-founders
Jan 30, 2024
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Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg, co-founders of theSkimm, discuss navigating the media industry, building a team that aligns with your vision, and the power of having a unique voice. They also talk about their early days of grassroots marketing, the importance of newsletters, and prioritizing growth.
The Skim prioritizes building a direct and trustworthy relationship with their audience, focusing on engagement instead of chasing clicks and social media algorithms.
Carly and Daniel successfully navigated the challenges of leadership and hiring by trusting their gut instincts and making decisions that aligned with their vision, which contributed to The Skim's growth.
Deep dives
The Skim: Providing Women with Crucial Information
Carly Zakin and Daniel Weisberg, co-founders and co-CEOs of The Skim, discuss their journey and the purpose of their digital media company. The Skim was founded in 2012 as an initiative to provide millennial women with relevant news and information to support their decision-making. They identified the need for a media company that catered specifically to this demographic and focused on delivering information that aligned with their daily routines. The Skim started as a newsletter sent early in the morning, aiming to recreate the experience of morning television in a digital-friendly format. By prioritizing audience growth and building genuine engagement from the start, The Skim has established a strong foundation of trust and direct connection with their readers. This has allowed them to expand their services and create a digital ecosystem covering financial health, wellness, parenting, and purchasing decisions.
The Challenges of Building The Skim
Carly and Daniel faced various challenges in the early years of building The Skim. They quit their jobs with minimal savings and bootstrapped the company for a significant period of time. They lived through exhaustive workdays, operating on little sleep and navigating both personal and professional challenges. Raising funds was difficult, with many investors in San Francisco not understanding their vision and suggesting they focus more on a traditional technical co-founder model. Despite these obstacles, Carly and Daniel remained resilient, driven by the positive feedback they received directly from their target audience. They relied on grassroots marketing strategies, such as brand ambassador programs and college tours, to spread awareness and grow their audience. Finally, they found strategic investors who believed in their vision and provided the necessary funds to hire a team and scale the business.
Navigating the Ever-changing Media Landscape
The Skim flourished by focusing on building genuine engagement and prioritizing zero and first-party data. Unlike many media companies that chased clicks and social media algorithms, The Skim concentrated on developing a direct, trustworthy relationship with their audience. This strategy insulated them from the unpredictable changes in the media industry, such as shifts in social media algorithms and the decline of third-party data. By having a direct line of communication with their readers and offering actionable and trustworthy content, The Skim has been able to scale its services beyond the daily newsletter and further into various aspects of millennial women's lives, such as finance, wellness, and purchasing decisions.
Co-CEO Model and Lessons Learned
Carly and Daniel embraced the co-CEO model from the beginning, recognizing the strength of their partnership and their complementary leadership styles. They established clear boundaries and had open communication about their roles and responsibilities. This allowed them to divide tasks based on company needs and individual strengths. They navigated the challenges of leadership decisions and hiring, understanding the importance of moving quickly to expand the team when necessary. Looking back, they realized the significance of trusting their gut instincts and making decisions that aligned with their vision, even when facing opposing advice. They believe that maintaining a strong, authentic connection with the audience, focusing on engagement rather than just numbers, and continuously anticipating their needs will be pivotal in The Skim's future growth.
It’s hard to remember a time when newsletters weren’t flooding every inbox but today’s guests were on the forefront of bringing easily digestible news directly to their audience. Today on Found, Becca is joined by Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg, co-founders and co-CEOs of theSkimm which is a digital media company, dedicated to succinctly giving women the information they need to make confident decisions. They talked about how they’ve navigated the digital media industry for over a decade, how they pitched this to investors when they were new to the game, and the importance of building a team that aligns with your vision.
They also talked about:
The importance of having a direct line to your audience and the benefit of building on your own platform, not on social media
Their grassroots marketing in the early days
How one thing they nailed from the beginning is having a unique voice.
(0:00) Introduction
(1:35) being on the forefront of millennial media companies