The Rebooting Show Semafor's big bets
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Jan 13, 2026 Justin Smith, CEO and co-founder of Semafor, shares insights on their innovative events-first media model that propelled the company to $40 million in revenue in just 3.5 years. He explains how integrating events with journalism has made Semafor's approach uniquely profitable in a challenging media landscape. The conversation highlights the growing importance of corporate affairs budgets, global expansion strategies, and the deliberate choice to launch in less competitive markets like Africa and the Gulf.
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Events As A Strategic Distribution Channel
- Convening businesses, when integrated tightly with the newsroom, can become a high-margin revenue and distribution channel for journalism.
- Justin Smith argues this integration differentiates Semafor and scales revenue faster than typical legacy models.
Sequence Growth Around Profitability
- Prioritize profitability and sequence revenue channels based on economic reality, not prestige.
- Smith says they avoided endless fundraising and leaned into profitable streams to build a sustainable business quickly.
Spend On Journalists First
- Invest fundraising capital first in newsroom talent to deepen core value and product quality.
- Smith plans to hire a dozen-plus journalists to expand D.C., Business, and Gulf coverage and increase publishing frequency.