Podcasts about Revision3

From Commodore PET gaming to revolutionizing pinball machines with Scorbit, Jay Adelson discusses his entrepreneurial journey (Equinix, Digg, Revision3) and shares wisdom on navigating the ever-changing tech landscape.

IMpulse S2E5 features Jim Louderback. Jim is a bridge between the OG days of TV and the thriving world of influencer marketing. Jim's career has been a masterclass in media evolution for over three decades. Before becoming a pioneer at Revision3. Jim had already worked at big-name media companies, then went on to conquer the digital realm at Discovery Digital Networks. But Jim's story continues. He captained VidCon, the world's largest creator gathering, for eight years, proving his understanding of the creator economy before it even had a name. Now, he keeps creators and influencers at the forefront of our minds through his highly successful newsletter, "Inside the Creator Economy," reaching a whopping 22,000 readers every week. You can subscribe to Inside the Creator Economy here: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/inside-the-creator-economy-6762441989427478528/ Connect with Jim Louderback on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jlouderb/ This episode includes: - Jim's Controversial Hottake on Influencer Marketing - The Worst Tech Trend According to Jim - The Story of VidCon - How Can Creator Economy Businesses Leverage VidCon? - Three Tech Tools To Have On a Deserted Island - API Businesses Shaping Up Creator Economy - Top Three Lessons from Creating a Newsletter Connect with us on a deeper level here: https://beacons.ai/getphyllo Want to get in touch with Phyllo? contact@getphyllo.com

In Ep. 146 of Earned, Conor Begley sits down with Jim Louderback—editor and CEO of “Inside The Creator Economy” Newsletter. To start, we dive into Jim's remarkable career spanning from management consulting to leading iconic media entities like PCMag, VidCon, and Revision3, and Jim shares invaluable insights for anyone navigating the media landscape. Jim then reveals his secret sauce to maintaining authenticity, creating compelling content, and leveraging AI tools such as ChatGPT to enhance the creative process. Next, we hear Jim's innovative approach to event planning, emphasizing the importance of the attendee journey and creating lasting impressions. Switching gears, Jim highlights the increasing significance of digital creators and the transformative potential of AI tools like DALL-E and Midjourney. Jim explains how these technologies can democratize content creation, allowing a broader, global audience to share their stories online. We discuss how platforms like CreatorIQ are incredibly helpful for  managing and scaling influencer marketing programs and underscore the importance of community and engagement in today's media environment. To close the show, Jim shares his passions outside of writing, which include technology reviews, as well as helping older generations travel as smoothly as they did in their younger years. In this episode, you will learn:  1. Why staying true to one's passions and authenticity in content creation is vital to success 2. How AI tools can actually enhance creativity and significantly improve the content creation process 3. Why innovative event design, from pairing unexpected speakers to enhancing attendee experiences, is key to curating memorable experiences   Resources: Inside the Creator Economy - http://louderback.com/   Connect with the Guest: Jim's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jlouderb/   Connect with Conor Begley & CreatorIQ: Conor's LinkedIn - @conormbegley CreatorIQ LinkedIn - @creatoriq   Follow us on social: CreatorIQ YouTube - @TribeDynamics CreatorIQ Instagram - @creatoriq CreatorIQ TikTok - @creator.iq CreatorIQ Twitter - @CreatorIQ  

Ryan speaks with Kevin Rose about the pros and cons of his entrepreneurial drive, the calming effects of reducing the amount of stuff that you have, the overlap between Zen Buddhism and Stoicism, the dangers of social media, why being vulnerable is the hardest thing to do, and more.Kevin Rose is an entrepreneur, podcaster, and television host. Having co-founded the companies Revision3, Digg, Pownce, and Milk, and having been a venture partner at GV, Kevin's work focuses on tracking and contributing to rising trends in the tech industry. As a host, he has worked on the G4 shows The Screen Savers, Unscrewed With Martin Sargen, and Diggnation, for which he also started a weekly podcast. He currently serves as the CEO of Proof and a partner of True Ventures. You can find Kevin's work at his website kevinrose.com, and on Instagram @kevinrose and Twitter @kevinrose.✉️ Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail

Today I have a special guest, friend and prolific entrepreneur, Jay Adelson.Jay is a serial entrepreneur, having co-founded and built countless significant companies over the last 20+ years:  Founded Equinix (EQIX) in 1998, eventually helping drive to a successful IPO  Helped launch Digg, Inc. and providing initial business strategy, taking the role of CEO beginning in 2005 Co-founded Revision3, holding roles of CEO and then as Chairman until their sale to Discovery Communications CEO of SimpleGeo, and led the sale to Urban Airship in November, 2011 Co-founded Opsmatic, serving as Chairman and led the sale to New Relic in October, 2015 Currently serves as Chairman and Co-founder at Scorbit, a connected gaming company Currently a Co-founder and General Partner of venture firm Center Electric, LLC Jay's incredible entrepreneurial talents are second to none, so it comes as no surprise that in 2008, Time Magazine named Jay one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the World.Jay shares some of the lessons he's learned so we can all be a little smarter when it comes time to sell our businesses someday. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Jay Adelson. ------------------------------------------------------------------------This episode is brought to you by Exitwise:  https://www.exitwise.comExitwise helps business owners create the exits they deserve by assembling the best teams of industry specific, M&A experts, who will help maximize the sale of each business.How Does It Work:1. Schedule A Call:  Schedule a call with one of our M&A Advisors and we'll walk you through the entire process of selling your business, from market valuations to M&A expert fees and from due diligence to the signing of your purchase agreement. We're here to answer any questions you may have.On this call, we'll want to learn about the history of the business, your financial performance, your management team and listen to your thoughts and requirements for selling the business so we can make sure to find the best M&A experts to help maximize your exit.2. Review Top Experts:  Once we've had a chance to process all your business information, we'll share with you, our top choices for investment bankers, M&A attorneys, and tax accountants to help maximize the sale of your business.We'll present each M&A expert's transaction history, estimated valuation range for your business and their fee structures. Then we'll talk through the pros and cons of each choice to help you prioritize and make the best decisions.3. Negotiate & Hire:  Finally, when we've narrowed it down to your top choices, we'll negotiate your engagement letter with each M&A expert to make sure fees and terms are fair for everyone. We know what to look for and we know how to keep everyone incentivized for your optimal outcome.Once your M&A experts have been selected and you're ready to move forward, we'll collect signatures and get everyone to work.

Chairman and Co-Founder of Scorbit, Jay Adelson, sits down with Network AF host Avi Freedman to talk about his history as a serial entrepreneur. Jay founded Equinix, Revision3, Opsmatic, and was the CEO of Digg. Throughout the conversation Jay and Avi touch on problems founders encounter, and discuss their mutual joy for gaming.Highlights of the conversation include:Imposter syndrome and working at DECServer evolution, power efficiency, and presentationHow not to build a data centerTerminating a cross connect and turning off service for Australia by accidentEquinix during its hyper-growth phaseRichard Clarke and peeringThe Forrest Gump of the InternetAmazing that the internet and the human body work at allEmergent behavior and the case of HD DVDsAn evolution of the anarchy started by the internetScorbit, gaming, and problem solving in pinballAdvice and lessons to a young Jay

099 Jim Louderback worked as the CEO of VidCon, one of the leading conferences in the world of digital creators and innovators. Under his leadership, the company was sold to Viacom in 2018. He is also a Venture Partner at seed investment firm Social Starts. Prior to VidCon, Jim was the CEO of Revision3, where he helped drive a 20x increase in viewers and a 12x increase in revenue. He eventually sold Revision3 to Discovery Communications where he worked as General Manager and transformed the group into Discovery Digital Networks.  Check out our brand new YouTube Video Podcast!  https://www.SmartVenturePod.com IG/Twitter/FB @GraceGongGG LinkedIn:@GraceGong YouTube: https://bit.ly/gracegongyoutube Join the SVP fam with your host Grace Gong. In each episode, we are going to have conversations with some of the top investors, super star founders, as well as well known tech executives in the silicon valley. We will have a coffee chat with them to learn their ways of thinking and actionable tips on how to build or invest in a successful company. ===================== https://link.blockfolio.com/9dzp/stwlap68 Use code: smartventure

This interview features Brendan Gahan, Partner and Chief Social Officer at Mekanism. We discuss working with OG YouTubers like Smosh back in 2005, founding Epic Signal and selling it to his former employer, hanging out in El Salvador's Bitcoin Beach, why it takes him 100 drafts to publish content, the future of the creator economy, and learning how to enjoy what you create.Subscribe to our newsletter. We explore the intersection of media, technology, and commerce: sign-up linkLearn more about our market research and executive advisory: RockWater websiteFollow The Come Up on Twitter: @TCUpodEmail us: tcupod@wearerockwater.com---EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Chris Erwin:Hi, I'm Chris Erwin. Welcome to The Come Up. A podcast that interviews entrepreneurs and leaders. Brendan Gahan:I felt like my strengths could be better utilized going off on my own. It was really as simple as, well, I want to do this work the way that I know how to do it and the way I want to do it. And if that takes me going off on my own, then that's what I'm going to do. So I did. In hindsight, it sounds much smarter than it was. It was not smart from like an on paper standpoint, but I just felt like it was the right thing for me to do because I've been doing it longer than most people, I have relationships, I have a sense of what strategically works. I want to do it the way that I want to do it. Chris Erwin:This week's episode features Brendan Gahan, partner and chief social officer at Mekanism. So Brendan was born in Ventura, California, and grew up surfing many local breaks. But although his parents were educators, he entered college without a career focus. But just a few weeks away from graduation, a last minute call from his uncle sparked his entry to media and advertising, and he never looked back. His career started at a creative agency working on some of the first YouTube campaigns with hit creators like Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox's Smosh. With a growing reputation as a social and digital expert, Brendan eventually started his own agency, Epic Signal, which he ended up selling to Mekanism. Chris Erwin:Today, Brendan is their chief social officer. On the side he also publishes a wide array of content, making it one of the industry's most well regarded thought leaders. Some highlights of our chat include what it was like to sell his company to his former employer, why he's hanging out in El Salvador's Bitcoin Beach, how it took him 100 videos to post his first TikTok, the future of the creator economy, and learning how to enjoy what you create. All right, let's get to it. Chris Erwin:Brendan, thanks for being on The Come Up Podcast. Brendan Gahan:Thanks for having me, pumped to be here. Chris Erwin:We were just having a little chat about, you got a surf in this morning, if that's right. Brendan Gahan:I did. I'm working in El Salvador this week in a little town called Zonte, people may have heard of it referred to as Bitcoin Beach. And there's a nice little right hand point here, so made sure to get out there. Chris Erwin:Are you regular foot or goofy foot? Brendan Gahan:I'm regular, yeah. Chris Erwin:Okay, so you like the right-handers. I'm goofy, I like to go left. Brendan Gahan:Yeah, right hand point in particular, it's like my favorite kind of wave. I grew up in Ventura. So grew up surfing C Street, at the point in Ventura. And then every once in a while I would make the trek up to Rincon and stuff. Chris Erwin:I'm curious, where exactly did you grow up? Were you in the LA County or were you up north? Brendan Gahan:No, I was in Ventura. So there's Ventura County, which encompasses quite a bit of Southern California, but I grew up in the city of Ventura, maybe three quarters of a mile away from the beach, it's like a 15-minute walk or so, and yeah, it was great. Chris Erwin:Great. And do you still have family that's in Ventura? Brendan Gahan:Parents are still there. I've got some aunts, uncles, cousins in the area. And then my younger sister lives, she's still in Ventura County, but about 30 minutes away from where we grew up. Chris Erwin:I often talk about Southern California real estate. And you look at one of the few pockets in SoCal that's near the beach that has been underdeveloped is definitely Ventura. I think that's true for the last 30 years. I think that's finally starting to change, particularly during COVID and remote work. Have you seen that there? Brendan Gahan:Oh my gosh, it's crazy. I was just there this past weekend. And there's all these developments going up, like apartment complexes and condos, and yeah, it's sort of interesting. When you look at Ventura on a map, there's sort of like this no man's land between LA and Santa Barbara. And for years, Ventura was just sort of like overlooked. It was like people would pass through Ventura to go to either Santa Barbara or LA, but then more and more Ojai started to become a place, and Ventura has become a bit of a destination and there's now some startups out there. Before the biggest company there was Patagonia. Ventura, growing up was sort of like this blue collar cowboy meets surfer vibe for the most part. And yeah, that's definitely evolving. Chris Erwin:I think cowboy meets surfer vibe sounds about as good as it can get, you know? Brendan Gahan:Yeah, yeah. Chris Erwin:I forget who, but when I was at Big Frame almost 10 years ago now, I remember there were some industry friends that had set up shop in Ventura and were commuting to LA, and it was only about like an hour, hour and 15 away, not that crazy if you timed it right. So curious, looking at you being at the nexus of digital media and advertising and all the things, were there any media influences when you were there, when you were younger? Did that come from your parents or anything like that? Or was your upbringing focused on completely different things? Brendan Gahan:Yeah, definitely not. LA seemed like the furthest thing in the world to me growing up. And it seemed like a city, it may as well have been New York in my mind. Even though it was only like an hour and a half, we would go to LA on a field trip every couple years, or maybe my parents would take us there and we'd visit a museum or something like that. But it was not like a destination that was really on my radar. And from a professional standpoint where my head was at, I sort of had the cliche jobs in mind, it was like, oh, okay, maybe I'll be a teacher or a lawyer. A lot of people I knew growing up, and a number of relatives were like firemen, so my mind was sort of gravitating towards, I thought I'd either be a doctor, a lawyer or a psychologist. So I didn't have much of like a media or a tech influence until later. Chris Erwin:What did your parents do? Brendan Gahan:They were both in education. So my mom was a teacher's assistant in resource classes. And then my dad initially was like a teacher and then became a principal at a number of the special education schools in Ventura County. And then when he retired, he was the director of special education in Ventura. So education ran deep in the family, I guess. Chris Erwin:Yes. No, clearly understood. But I think you mentioned that you had an uncle that was in the media space, right? Brendan Gahan:That's right. Yeah, yeah. So I had an uncle who worked in advertising and he was at Wieden+Kennedy like in the heyday when it was like Bonos, Air Jordan, all that, when it was as big as it could get, and they lived a ways away. But whenever I saw him, I would just like pepper him with a million questions because to me, somebody working in advertising, in particular on like Nike and in that era, it wasn't just ads. It was like shifting culture, like Spike Lee and all that stuff. So I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. And I'd always ask him a million questions about it. But in my mind I never thought that I would end up working in that space. It seemed like this extra terrestrial sort of thing. Brendan Gahan:But he was always really cool. And he was like a creative director doing a lot of the Air Jordan spots and that sort of thing. So he always had funny stories he would share. And I just thought it was the coolest thing. I remember being in like elementary school, he'd visit or we'd go visit him, and I'd just pepper him with questions. So it was always sort of like seated in the back of my mind, but at the same time it felt unattainable, but I was really fortunate. Brendan Gahan:I don't know if we want to skip ahead too much, but basically he ended up offering me my first internship, totally came out of the blue. I got a phone call one day, I was like two days away from graduating from college. And I was about to go home for summer and work, and yeah, just out of the blue, he's like, "Hey, I got this guy on my team," he had started his own agency at this point, he's like, "And we need some young kid who understands digital," because this is 2005. And so I came up there and I interviewed with this guy he wanted me to intern for- Chris Erwin:But you did not go to college for this, if I understand correctly, you went to, is it UC Santa Cruz and you were psychology and history? Brendan Gahan:Yep. Yep. Chris Erwin:And again, you thought with that you were going to follow in your parents' footsteps, become an educator, or become a lawyer. Brendan Gahan:Something like that, yeah, I thought I was zeroing in on like teacher, lawyer or psychologist. I wasn't really sure what I was going to do. And psychology I always thought was fascinating. So I studied that, and then I realized two, three years in, I was like, oh, I've taken a ton of history courses and if I just take a few more, I can get a double major in apparently history, because of all the writing and stuff if I remember correctly, it was like not a bad thing to have if you were looking to get into law school. So it just kind of like was a circuitous path to get where I ended up. Chris Erwin:It didn't feel like you were overly passionate about anything at that point. I think you were open minded and you had some, call it nuclear, familial inspirations or influences. But when you got this call from your uncle, you're like, hey, this has been the cool uncle that was part of these massive sociocultural movements, Michael Jordan and Nike, I totally hear you. So when you got that call, were you really pumped up or was it, oh no, this sounds like something interesting and there's some direction and let's just go see what happens. Brendan Gahan:I was really pumped. I was also really torn because I was going to go home and work as a teacher's assistant for the summer and do summer school, which I know my parents were sort of excited about on so many different levels, because I'd be home. They would see me. They loved the idea of me getting into education, at least I'm pretty sure that's what they were excited about. And so I was like very torn, but also super excited. Brendan Gahan:And I went out and drove up to San Francisco for the interview. And I still remember walking into the ad agency office for the first time just being like, holy shit, this is so fucking cool. This is an office, people work out of here. It was like this creative space. And I remember thinking, especially as a college kid, wow, there's like a beer fridge and your pool table, and all these things. And obviously I knew work was happening, but it seemed like a great environment to get work done. I don't think I ever overdid it on any of the fun things, but it was like this relief to sort of have that there, and it felt really exciting to me. Chris Erwin:So then you get the job and you move up north. Brendan Gahan:Yep. Chris Erwin:What were you focused on in the beginning there? And then, I think from our notes that you did some early work with Smosh, is that right? Brendan Gahan:Yeah, exactly. So I did an internship and then I eventually got hired, and I was technically like a junior account executive. This was 2005, 2006, 2007, I think, and it was in the early, early days of social media and I was the youngest guy in the office. So people would ask me random questions, like, "What's the deal with MySpace, what happens on that?" Or, like Facebook, nobody else could get on Facebook because you still had to have your college email address. So I sort of found myself being this resource, and at the same time me being flabbergasted by the way advertising was being done. Brendan Gahan:I remember the first time I found out how much a billboard cost, and looking at that and being like, this is almost more than, I mean, I can't remember the number right now, but I remember thinking, this is about as much I make in a full year with my salary and being like, I don't think anyone does anything because of the billboard, or certainly not like a normal billboard ad, and seeing this huge disconnect between what drove people to do things and what people were genuinely excited about and where dollars were being allocated. Brendan Gahan:So I think I slowly started just embracing that and being like, to me, it was common sense to a certain extent, like, look, I can go on YouTube and I can see how many people watch this video. Why aren't we doing this? This shows millions of people. Once again, like walking down the street, I don't know of anybody who does anything because of a billboard. And so that sort of evolved, and I started just pitching ideas proactively. And I remember I even tried to pitch clients and stuff, and stuff I in hindsight probably didn't have- Chris Erwin:Existing clients of the agency, or were you doing some new business development? Brendan Gahan:All of the above. I remember reading about it in the ad trades, like, oh, so and so company fired their agency and I'd be like, well, why don't they work with us? And literally come up with ideas and mail them things, and like try and get a response. And I don't know, just like this sort of, we're a creative industry, let's be really creative. Chris Erwin:Was that the expectation from your role or was that you just having some gumption of being a self-starter? Brendan Gahan:Not to pat myself on the back, but I think it was definitely me sort of having a little bit of gumption. I think I also just didn't know. It was a relatively small loose agency. And so I thought, well, it wasn't like this is exactly how you're supposed to do this job, and this, this and this, I think creativity was really encouraged and so long as work was getting done, anything I wanted to do sort of beyond that was like, all right, yeah, sure, that sounds cool. Chris Erwin:So did that spirit, is that what drove you... Did you work directly with Smosh? What is that story there? Brendan Gahan:Yeah. So late 2006, this client the agency had had before I was even there, they came to the agency and they were like, "Hey, we want to do an ad campaign. We don't have a big budget." And it was a portable MP3 player. And the partners at the agency were talking about it right behind me. And they were about to turn it down. And it was one of those situations where in hindsight, yes, it was not much money, and they should have turned it down by all means. But I just butted in. I was like, "Hey, what if we pitched them this idea of getting these kids on YouTube to promote it. And we just rather than try and squeeze like a campaign into this budget, let's just do one video." Brendan Gahan:And so they were like, "Oh, that sounds kind of cool. Yeah, let's pitch it to the company, to the brand." And they bought it. I think I literally turned around after the partners said it was okay to pitch it to the client and I emailed Ian and Anthony, found their email on MySpace and they emailed me back that afternoon. And I think the next week they came by the office because they were just up in Sacramento area, so it wasn't too far. Chris Erwin:They were one of the biggest YouTube channels at the time, right? Just for context, this is 2005, 2006. Facebook had just started in '04. YouTube had just started in '04. Google bought them I think a couple years later. So Ian and Anthony were probably one of the biggest personalities on the platform at that time. Brendan Gahan:Yeah. I think they might have been number two. I know they eventually were number one for a couple of years, but I don't think they were quite number one yet. It was sort of like early days and there was a lot of jostling for position and stuff. Chris Erwin:So you got their emails from their MySpace page, you hit them up. That definitely wouldn't happen today, not as easy to go direct to the top creators. And then they came by your office, what happened? Brendan Gahan:Yeah, they came by, by that point we had gotten the thumbs up from the client to like, "Oh yeah, sure, we're down, if you can make it work." They came by the office, we literally got in a room and it was sort of funny. I remember nobody knew what you would charge for something like this, you know? So we were literally just kicking around like, what would you want to charge for this? I don't know, how much do you want to pay for this? Just going back and forth. And then finally, one of the partners was like, "Well, I don't know, would you guys do it for like 15 grand or something?" And they were like, "Probably, why don't we go back to..." I think Anthony's dad was an accountant or something like that. Brendan Gahan:And they were going to run it by him. I might have those details wrong, but they were like, it was basically like a, pretty sure that'll work. Let's go talk to our parents. And then they came back and they were like, sure, and so we did it, they made this video called Feet for Hands. I remember when it went live it crashed the client's website, which I thought was so fucking cool. I felt so validated. And then, yeah, it got like millions of views. And I just wanted to do that again and again, and again. And I saw what Mekanism was doing and my first boss at that agency, he'd left for Mekanism, Jason Harris, the president and CEO of Mekanism now. He joined Mekanism, became a partner. And we had a great working relationship. Brendan Gahan:I interned for him and stuff. And I showed in that video, I was like, look, look, look at this thing. It's got three million views. I know I can help you guys. I was so envious of the work they were doing. They were doing like early viral video stuff. And this is like 2006, 2007, when a lot of this stuff, people weren't paying attention at all. And so I was just so envious of the projects they were working on. And they brought me in for a few interviews and I literally met the whole agency, which at the time was pretty small, I think like twice. And then they hired me. Chris Erwin:Was this East Coast based? Brendan Gahan:This is all West Coast. They were in San Francisco, just a few blocks away from the office I was at, at the time, and then got hired, it was like Mekanism was doing a ton of branded content, viral video stuff but oftentimes without any paid media. The platforms, most of them didn't even have paid media as an option. I think at the time you could buy a YouTube homepage banner and that was it. Facebook didn't have it. There was no sort of formal way of promoting that stuff for the most part. So we sort of, myself and a couple other guys, younger guys, we built out a team over time that was the social media team. And we were just constantly coming up with different ways to promote content, doing everything from Reddit seeding to tons and tons of work with creators. We worked with all the big creators in those early days, which was great, because it was a small community. We got to make a lot of deeper relationships at the time. Chris Erwin:Yeah. And you were probably working with a lot of those creators direct versus now there's tons of representatives, managers and agencies, and sometimes you never even talk to the end talent, but back then probably different. Brendan Gahan:Oh, 100%, yeah. We would get pretty elaborate sometimes with these campaigns, we would do like in person summits and kickoffs. We worked with 20th Century Fox on some campaigns, and we would fly like 50 influencers in and a bunch obviously would be in LA, but host these elaborate dinners and events, and sometimes it'd be two, three days long where they're meeting with the execs, meeting with actors, kind of getting a download of the campaign, what the expectations were for them. Then we'd take them out, go partying. So it was cool. Got to spend a lot of face time with people and it was a really fascinating time. Chris Erwin:You were there for about five to six years at Mekanism, right? Brendan Gahan:Yeah. Chris Erwin:And then I think you transitioned to full screen after that for a brief stint, but then you started your own agency, Epic Signal. So what was the catalyst for you to leave this kind of the broader corporate support and other people that were helping elevate your career to say, I want to do something differently, I'm going to do it by myself. Brendan Gahan:I felt like full screen was exploding at the time. You know this, all the MCNs were blowing up, but I felt like there was a lot of distraction and stuff. And the thing that I was really passionate about at its core was the strategy in collaborating with both brands and creators to create something awesome. And I felt like full screen, it was like they were trying to grow this MCN, this network and make a scalable business. So it was a little bit different from what I was really passionate about. And so I left, I thought I was just going to take my time sort of consulting. But I mean, this was like when influencer marketing was reaching this new fevered pitch because... We talked about it yesterday. Sometime around there, Maker was acquired, all these clients that I'd worked with and people at different agencies that I'd worked with over the years came out of the woodwork and were like, we have to have an influencer strategy. Brendan Gahan:We have to have a YouTube strategy. And I'd been the, air quotes, like YouTube guy and influencer guy since 2006. So I was one of a handful of people who had sort of like this deep bench and experience in this niche. So all my old clients started hitting me up. All of a sudden I had more work than I could personally do. And slowly started hiring people just out of necessity, because I didn't want to say no to these awesome opportunities. I was like, oh crap. I get to work with Mountain Dew, hell yeah, let's do it. Chris Erwin:I do want to clarify, but when you went off on your own, I mean I'm sure look, as the industry is growing, Google original channels program happened in 2011, 2012, hundreds of millions of dollars of funding into digitally native production companies to fuel the overall video ecosystem to help you to recruit more advertisers. And so when you decided to go off on your own to start Epic Signal, why was that? Had you always wanted to be an entrepreneur? Did you think like, hey, I want to be an owner and I'm early in a very nascent industry and so this is scary, but I'm going to get an early foothold and see what happens. Brendan Gahan:It honestly wasn't as strategic as that, it was more like, I felt like my strengths could be better utilized going off on my own. And I like being really hands on and strategic. It was really as simple as, well, I want do this work the way that I know how to do it and the way I want to do it. And if that takes me going off on my own, then that's what I'm going to do. So I did. And in hindsight, it sounds much smarter than it was, it was not smart from like an on paper standpoint. I left full screen. I left my equity on the tape because I left just shy of a year, but I just felt like it was the right thing for me to do, because I knew, I'd seen this space grow so fast and I was like, I've been doing it longer than most people. I have relationships, I have a sense of what strategically works. I want to do it the way that I want to do it. And that just made me feel good, and so that's what I did. Chris Erwin:Now did you launch Epic Signal in LA or did you move to New York? Brendan Gahan:So I was in LA, but very quickly was splitting my time up between LA and New York. I was going back and forth. I'd spend two weeks in LA, two weeks in New York, back, forth, back forth constantly, and then was about to move to New York officially, I ended up having more clients there than anywhere else, more brands I was working with there than anywhere else. And then as I was sort of putting the plan together to do that, I ended up selling it. And then I had to move to New York, so it moved things along. Chris Erwin:That happened pretty quickly, right? Because I think you had Epic Signal for, was it a couple years before you sold it to Mekanism? Brendan Gahan:Yeah, I think it was just shy of two years. It was almost two full years, yeah. Chris Erwin:Okay. And when you decided to sell, how big was your team at that point? Brendan Gahan:It wasn't big. It was like a half dozen people. Chris Erwin:Okay. Why did you decide to sell? Brendan Gahan:I found myself in a situation where I was doing so much back office stuff. It was like the very thing that I left to go do was, I wanted to focus on the strategy and deal with that, do the actual work. And then what I found was, when you are an entrepreneur, it's very easy to get sucked into dealing with lawyers and accounts, and payroll, and all this stuff that is not fun, all that back office stuff. Chris Erwin:I'm feeling you right now on that. That's where I feel like I'm at with RockWater. Brendan Gahan:You try and delegate it, but it's like all these things get this overflow back to you. And so I was back in this situation where I was doing the work that wasn't making me happy. And at the same time, I sort of felt like I have this window of opportunity where it's like, this is a really small team, we're lean and mean. We've got great profit margins. We've also got dope clients. We were working with like ABI. We worked on Bud Light campaigns, Corona. We did work with several PepsiCo brands, a handful of others. So we had a dope roster of clients that we were working with, a handful of whom were on retainer. And I was like, we have this niche where we're focusing on helping brands with YouTube strategy and YouTube creators. And oftentimes, especially the bigger brands, like a Pepsi, Mountain Dew, they had multiple agencies and they would have like a social AOR even. Brendan Gahan:And they did have a social AOR, but I was like, it's only going to be a matter of time before I get squeezed out and they start offering this services that I'm sort of in this interesting niche I can offer at this time that they don't have. And so I felt like the cache of the brands that I had, the team in place, people would find it desirable because of the relationships and already booked revenue, and great team. And so I thought I'll try and capitalize on my time and see if I can make a deal happen. Brendan Gahan:And then I had a letter of intent on the table and I would call my old boss at Mekanism for advice. "Hey, I'm negotiating with these guys, and this is a deal on the table. Does this make sense? What should I push back on?" So he was aware that things were moving along. And basically I was in New York, I had signed a letter of intent, things were sort of going through due diligence and all that. And he was like, "Let's grab drinks." So I met up with him for a drink. He's like, "Just come back." I was like, "All right, well, I got a deal in hand if you can beat it, I'm down. Like let's do it." I loved working with him. Chris Erwin:Hey listeners, this is Chris Erwin. Your host of The Come Up. I have a quick ask for you. If you dig what we're putting down, if you like the show, if you like our guests, it would really mean a lot if you can give us a rating wherever you listen to our show. It helps other people discover our work. And it also really supports what we do here. All right, that's it everybody, let's get back to the interview. Chris Erwin:I have to ask, did you run a formal sales process where you decided to sell and then you're like, all right, here's the 20 best fit buyers that are out there and I'm going to go call them or I'm going to hire someone to dial for dollars on the company's behalf. And/or were you also just getting unsolicited in bounds that you were like, oh, hey, this is interesting. Maybe with the market timing, things that you were sharing, where there was a lot of brands had big agencies of record, you felt that you were going to get squeezed out. So now is the time to sell, what was that looking like? Brendan Gahan:Exactly that, but sort of like the inverse. Initially, I sort of had a hunch and so I sort of informally had some conversations and dinners with people where like, I didn't come right out and say, "Hey, I want to sell," I didn't want to come across as desperate. Because I mean, and I wasn't, I wasn't desperate, but I wanted to sell. But I would sort of just seed the idea, like, "Hey, I'm kicking around the idea of selling, I'd love to do X, Y, and Z. And like' Chris Erwin:Just like dating, the classic courting phase, you're just doing the dance. Brendan Gahan:Exactly. And then once people started expressing interests, I was like, okay, I'm definitely onto something. This is something I'm way out of my depth on. So I asked around and some buddies recommended some lawyers and I hired them and signed a deal with them. And I was like, all right, let's make this happen. And that was the best decision I could have made. They earned every dime I paid them and then some, because beyond just the relief of handing it over, they definitely got me more money and I didn't ever have to be the bad guy throughout the process, which I'm very bad at saying no to people in negotiations and stuff like that. They were just like, every step of the way they were like, "No, just pass it over to us. We'll take care of it." And then they would hit me up and they're like, "Here's what's on the table, here's what we advise. What do you want to do?" And the process was stressful enough as it is, but having them sort of take the reins just alleviated so much stress. Chris Erwin:Selling your company is a very unique work stream that requires a very unique set of skills to execute well. And it can be very emotional for a founder, operator and CEO. This is your baby. You could transform your life through a big liquidity event, but it's also going to impact, you might be selling to another company and working for someone else. So having a partner there to guide you along the way is really important. I mean, I saw this a lot because I was a banker on Wall Street back in the day and sold a variety of different companies and helped shepherd the sale with Big Frame to Awesomeness TV. I just talked about that in the last podcast with Sarah Penna, one of the co-founders of Big Frame, and it's a really big decision. Chris Erwin:So I totally get it. I'm curious, who were the buyers that you were talking to? Was it different brand agencies? Was it different brands that wanted to actually just bring you on in house? Was it some of the emerging YouTube MCNs that wanted to build out their influencer sales arm? What was that group looking like? Brendan Gahan:I think it was two MCNs and this holding company, I won't name names and stuff, but it was a fascinating process. And to your point about seeing it and it being stressful and all this stuff, if you think about it, it's like, it's an experience that, as an owner or an entrepreneur you're out of your depth, it's a very unique thing that happens. It doesn't happen that often. And so bringing in professionals is so helpful because they actually do these deals. I'm doing totally different types of deals. I have no experience selling an organization. Chris Erwin:Yeah. You need to create a very compelling story and also urgency, get people excited and the feeling that they're going to miss out. So if you kind of go after the process willy nilly, you can set up a really bad result for your company. And also for your counterparties that are saying, "Hey, we're interested here. We've been in talks for a while. Why is this dragging along? Who else are you talking to?" Chris Erwin:So you can really damage, not only all the value that you've created for your business, but it can impact your team, it can impact the ability of you to continue working in the industry thereafter. So got to do it right. But so many say, I was just talking to a banker about this yesterday. Oftentimes, transactions result from long standing relationships and trust that have been built. So the end buyer for Epic Signal was your past boss at Mekanism, that became your eventual home. So after you joined forces with them, was the mandate, "Hey Brendan, come back on board. You're now part of the senior leadership team. The market opportunity is even bigger. Let's go after it with you and your whole team in a bigger way." Brendan Gahan:Pretty much, yeah. It was a bit of a plug and play option, they had... Obviously there was a social team when I left, the feeling was like there wasn't... A number of people had left by the time I came back, so I was able to bring my team in, merge it with the existing team. And we started expanding the offerings again. When I was running Epic Signal, I deliberately tried to keep it very narrow in niche, because I couldn't compete with a big social agency, it just wouldn't happen. Brendan Gahan:But by having two very key offerings, it streamlined so much of the processes and it gave me a clear point of differentiation. And when I joined back up with Mekanism, it was like full service, social, we're doing everything, community management in the lightweight, social content creation, analytics, reporting, influencer marketing, all this stuff. And so had to scale up the team and integrate with the larger organization as a whole. And it was fun. I think I'm sort of like this entrepreneur at heart or intrapreneur, and I like the process of sort of building and evolving and exploring new opportunities. So it was a really good fit, is a good fit. Chris Erwin:Thinking back on all of the brand and influencer campaigns that you've done, there's got to be one or two that stand out in terms of just something crazy went down. I think back to at Big Frame, working with some talent, doing a six figure brand deal, talent deciding literally two hours before something's supposed to go live that they're not going to post it or having a meltdown on the floor of VidCon and sobbing and crying because they're having a personal breakdown, because look, that life is tough and burnout is real in the influencer space. I remember a bunch of stories when we were launching different content verticals and flying in different 40 creators into like a creator house. This is like back in 2013, before there was like the modern creator houses of today. So any stories from the trenches that you remember from your early days? Brendan Gahan:Oh my God. Yeah, it's like, working with creators I think is one of those things, when you're in it, you're almost like, I'm never going to do this again. Then afterwards you're like, oh, that wasn't so bad. That was really fun. I think probably one that took the cake as far as stress goes, was we were working with Brisk Iced Tea, which is a PepsiCo brand. And we're about to host a summit because Brisk was relaunching, they had Eminem in the super bowl spot, and they were reviving the Claymation look. They did one with Ozzy Osborne, they did one with Danny Trejo, and we were actually having Danny Trejo fly out to New York, and he was going to meet with all these creators and stuff. And this was during the winter before super bowl. So I don't know if it was like December or January, or maybe early February, but there was a massive snowstorm. Brendan Gahan:Flights kept getting canceled and delayed. And I remember being glued to my phone, refreshing constantly, looking at, I think there were a handful of flights that were going to make it out of LA to New York before things were going to get canceled. And I remember, we signed up all these creators, Danny Trejo was going to show and he was going to be the cool, shiny object, and his flight to New York. I remember it kept getting delayed, delayed, delayed, it got canceled. We got him on another flight, delayed, delayed, delayed. And I was just like refreshing my phone and being like, this whole thing is going to fucking fall apart if that flight doesn't take off. It sounds like not that big a deal right now but I remember it was just one of those moments where I was just like, the whole thing was going to fall apart. The world was on my shoulders and I was just freaking out. But I've had a million situations like that, I remember- Chris Erwin:Did that work out? Did he get on the flight and did the campaign come together? Brendan Gahan:Oh yeah, he ended up [crosstalk 00:34:02]. Chris Erwin:He's like, I can't leave the audience hanging. Brendan Gahan:Yeah. He made it and it was freaking amazing. We thought we had him for like an hour, he was going to do a little talk, kind of talk about... His story's amazing first off. And then his spot with Brisk was super cool. And we thought people were going to get a kick out of that. I think we had like 45 minutes for him booked. He was going to come out and hang out and talk with the creators. I think it was like 20 or so creators. And we thought that was going to be this awesome experience for everyone before we sort of called it a day and then went out. And he was so cool. He came out, told this story, which is insane. And then he was like, "All right, what are we doing next, guys?" And he hung out... We had all these YouTubers there. Brendan Gahan:We had like Nice Peter and Mike Diva, and Tim DeLaGhetto, all those guys. And he made himself available to do cameos and their vlogs or any content they were making. Chris Erwin:Wow. Brendan Gahan:People would be like, "Hey, can you pretend to choke me out and beat me up for my video?" And he'd be like, "Oh sure." He just was there hanging out all day. And then we were going to take all the creators out to a dinner, take them to [inaudible 00:35:10] or one of those, where drinking and bowling and stuff. And he's like, "Oh, could I come along?" He doesn't drink. So he didn't drink. But he was hanging with the whole crew, all of us until, I don't know, like one in the morning or something. He was the nicest guy, and so it was this amazing sort of transition from like the day before, one of the most stressful experiences of my life. I don't think I slept that night to everything went off better than I could have possibly hoped for. Chris Erwin:I just want to call that out. I think that's one of the beautiful things about working with digitally native creators and being in the advertising business, is meeting all these incredible personalities. So I think Danny Trejo, tell me if I'm wrong, but I think he's LA born, Latin, very tatted up, I think had a pretty rough upbringing, but made his way into American movies and TV series. And he often plays like the bad guy or the thug and maybe those roles have been evolving, but what you see on screen- Brendan Gahan:It's pretty spot on. Chris Erwin:Yeah, what you see on screen is clearly very different than who his actual personality is, and were it not for what you're doing, Brendan, you would never have gotten to meet him, and you probably have hundreds of stories like that, that's a pretty beautiful thing. Brendan Gahan:We did one campaign with Virgin Mobile, they were sponsoring Lady Gaga's tour at the time, we got to go hang out with Lady Gaga after one of her shows like, it was wild. I bring up celebrities, but I think honestly hanging out with the creators was my favorite thing, because especially back then, there was a lot of uncertainty in terms of like, how am I going to turn this into a job? Or this is my job, but I'm just kind of scraping by. And it was an interesting mix of sort of a lot of belief in what they were doing, which I found super admirable, and I was almost envious of the fact that they took that leap as well as this sort of insecurity and doubt that they had. Brendan Gahan:There's so much pressure to keep making content and to power through, but at the same time, not knowing exactly where it was headed. You think back then, like the daily vloggers, that was a big thing in that era, those guys, we would spend all day with them doing stuff for the brand. And then when other people would go have dinner and drinks late into the night, they would have to go edit and they'd be editing until like three in the morning, running on [crosstalk 00:37:21] of sleep. Yeah. Chris Erwin:You ask what kids want to be nowadays, they want to be a creator, but whether it's a daily vlogger, or you're creating content, you're managing a fandom that is always on, and that's a lot to take on and that's why there's burnout. And I hear you, some of those early creators, they were probably just racing because they're like, hey, I have put all my resources into this, all my focus. Maybe this goes away in a couple years because the fans' interests and the passions are going to change or the algorithms are going to change and maybe this is not going to be here. So it was like a money land grab. Chris Erwin:But Brendan, when you say that you would look at creators and say, oh, I was jealous how they took the leap, maybe I want to take the leap as well. You took that leap during COVID and you started really building out your own personal audience and thought leadership. And that speaks to that you like to do things on the side. I think you have a strong entrepreneurial or intrapreneurial spirit as you described. And I don't think it just started over the past couple years. I think when we were talking in advance of this interview, you were investing back in the day as well. And I think that you were an early investor in Big Frame, is that right? Brendan Gahan:So I did invest in Big Frame, but via Mekanism because I knew Sarah from back in the day when she was working for Phil DeFranco. And so when she was starting it, I was like, oh my gosh, can we get in? So yeah, we made this small investment and I just sort of wanted to be a part of all that. I definitely had like a serious case of FOMO. Chris Erwin:Yeah. I think that was really cool. I think Sarah and Steve, we actually had a bunch of different creators and I think peer business partners in our cap table, a way of giving them ownership as a thank you, helping us build this together. And so when we sold, all those creators that were in our cap table got some money. Was it life changing money? No, but it was something. And I think they really represented a pretty special ethos from the top. Brendan Gahan:That's awesome. That's so cool. Chris Erwin:But yeah, and you are also early on and I think you still are, you're an advisor to the VidCon board, is that right? Brendan Gahan:Yeah. So I sit on the advisory board for the industry track specifically. So I mean, I've been to all the US VidCons, a bunch of the international ones. So I was always deep in that space. And I've known Jim since the Revision3 days, he was, Jim Louderback the CEO was the CEO of Revision3, which was one of the big early MCNs. And I'm not sure exactly to be honest how that came about other than... But I think what prompted it was as part of the acquisition of Viacom for VidCon, Jim came on board and I think it was a way to make sure that, I think he put together a few advisory boards to make sure that he was getting a lot of input from multiple points, because for so long the community was relatively insular, and its expanded so much so quickly. Chris Erwin:I first met you, I think via an introduction from Chas, Chas Lacaillade who I think was an early interview on this podcast. You guys overlapped at full screen back in 2013 and then have both built your own businesses after that, pretty funny track. And first met you in New York. And I remember a conversation a year and a half ago or a couple years ago, I was asking, what are you focused on? What are you doing? You're a dabbler in so many things, you're at Mekanism, but I'm seeing that you're doing all this incredible thought leadership on LinkedIn, all these incredible posts and you're really consistent about it. Chris Erwin:They were really high quality. And you said, "Hey Chris, I'm really focused on building an audience. And I think audience in the modern creator economy is one of the most valuable currencies that you can have." And you weren't completely clear what you wanted to do with that audience, but you're like, I'm going to build and now's a great time to do it. So I am curious to hear that story of how that came to be and what you're working on today. Brendan Gahan:You probably said that so much more articulate than I did. I'm going to have to remember that, but yeah. That was definitely the insight. I think the way it came about was sort of like, I was legitimately beating myself up over the fact that I had probably hundreds of pages of writing and thoughts in Google Drive that I'd never published as a blog post. And I would just like constantly beat myself up over this. I'd have what I thought was a great idea. I'd work on a blog post and then it would just sort of get longer and longer and longer and longer. And then eventually it became this daunting task to like push it out, because I had a blog for a while and I would sort of fall into this pattern and then not publish for like a long, long time. Brendan Gahan:And the thing I sort of found was the hardest part was to press publish really. And so I was like, okay, well what's the easiest way I can get myself to kind of overcome that, because I did want an audience. I felt like I had thoughts that I wanted to get out of my own head. And so basically I was like, all right, what is sort of the easiest way to do this and inoculate myself to this idea that this fear of pressing publish. And so I started small and basically I was like, all right, well, I'm going to start posting one thing a day on LinkedIn. It doesn't matter if it's simply sharing an article, just writing cool or writing a whole blog post if I feel like it. And that made it very approachable. Brendan Gahan:In the early days, I would literally just sit there and press a timer, 20 minutes and write. When it was done, I'd give it a once over and then press publish. And that really helped me sort of start to overcome this fear, and did that for all of, what was that 2020 I believe. And then at some point towards the end of 2020, I was like... We'd already done multiple TikTok campaigns and I'd seen the power of TikTok, and like early days, you can still get in there and you can have an impact. Brendan Gahan:It's a softer landing than it will be later. So after seeing all the successful campaigns, I was encouraging my fiance to get on there and do it. And then every time she would post something, it would blow up. Because she had a decent sized YouTube channel and Instagram but it wasn't massive. And I was like, just get on TikTok, trust me. So I found myself sort of giving this advice to everyone, but not taking it myself. And I was like, all right, I should just... These opportunities they only come by every few years if you're lucky, and I was like, I need to just take my own advice. And so in the same way I had to get over writing and sharing my thoughts, I had to get over that with TikTok. Chris Erwin:Yeah, putting yourself on video, that's a big difference than writing and text base expression on LinkedIn. Brendan Gahan:It was so hard. It was so hard. She used to laugh at me because I would put the camera on me and then I would just try and say something, and I would be like, "Fuck, fuck," and then try and say a word and I'd stutter. And I would sit there for like 20 minutes trying to spit out two sentences. Chris Erwin:Brendan, I got to say, I feel you on that because Kevin Gould at Kombo Ventures, he would do these job rec videos on LinkedIn where he'd just be like, call it one or two minutes. "Hey, we're Kombo Ventures, I'm Kevin, we're looking to hire someone, this is what we're doing. And here's who we're looking for." I record these and this is like an inner tip on me. I'll record that like 15 times, it's a one minute video, but I'll say no, I skipped up, I said something I didn't want to say. I don't like how I look. I don't like the lighting, and people think like, oh yeah, you just put it up and that'll be like my one thing I need to get done in the morning, and it'll take me 15 tries to do it. Then you just go to think about, okay, if you're a professional creator doing that for a living, I really feel it then, it's a pretty good glimpse into it. Brendan Gahan:100%. And I think one thing I saw Roberto Blake, maybe, I think I saw a video or saw him tweet, you've got to make 100 bad videos to get to your first good one, or maybe it was Mr. Beast. And I was like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that's very true. And that sort of made me embrace the fact that the first ones are going to be awful, and I tried to not focus on like each one, but more building the habit because that would, I don't know how else to say it, but sort of inoculate yourself to that feeling of just sheer fear and anxiety of getting in front of the camera. Chris Erwin:On the outside looking in, I look at, we're a big content marketing machine at RockWater to drive awareness and legitimacy for the services that we do as the self-described McKinsey of the creator economy, right? Market research, strategy advisory, capital raising, and all of that. We look at what you're doing, Brendan, from your LinkedIn posts to your blog, to now almost I think over 100,000 followers on TikTok. It's very, very impressive. A lot of people in the industry say the same thing, right? Like, oh, do you see Brendan's path and what he's posting? It's incredible. I look at the TikTok videos. They're very well edited. Are you doing that yourself? Do you have a team helping you? Brendan Gahan:I'm not editing them myself anymore. I was up until late last year. So I hired an editor out of the Philippines actually who works full time on my TikTok. Then he does design for my blog posts and a bunch of different things basically, he helps me out with a bunch of stuff and that's been a huge relief because now I feel like I'm trying to transition to... There's almost sort of like, as a creator and this is something I observe, but I'm having trouble implementing it, sort of like people find you because of your topic is interesting or maybe you've got a helpful bit of information, but then they stick around and embrace you because of kind of the personality piece. Brendan Gahan:And I'm really trying to sort of evolve it into creating something that provides more insight into me at the same time. And hopefully people feel like there's a connection to me rather than like, "Hey, here are just some interesting stats or an interesting strategy." So that's sort of like where my head is at in terms of where I want to take it. I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to do that. But I think similar to just the same way I got started before, I'm just trying to throw things out there and see what sticks. Chris Erwin:Loudly from the RockWater team, keep doing what you're doing. We love it. Brendan Gahan:Oh, thanks. I appreciate that. Chris Erwin:Yeah. A closing theme before we get into some rapid fire questions and close out the interview. What's next for Brendan and Mekanism? And maybe that's a theme of talking about, what do you think is most exciting in the creator economy and how do you want to support it? You've been writing about Web 3 and X to earn models. Is that something that you're thinking a lot about lately? Brendan Gahan:In terms of Mekanism, I really enjoy that. And so long as I get to work with great brands and great people and do great work I'm content. In terms of the creator economy and stuff, I love everything that's happening there. And I do a little bit of investing and advising, and I love nothing more than sort of brainstorming with people who are building, it's so exciting. And I think the aspect of the creator economy that I'm really fascinated by is sort of... Rather than, most of the VCs coming in are like, oh, we're going to build this scalable product for creators. And that's interesting, but I think the thing that's more interesting is sort of the creators building their own brands, and I think right now production and productization, that's sort of the commodity piece. The development of a brand and cultivation of an audience is becoming the differentiator and the most valuable asset. Brendan Gahan:We were talking about that at the beginning, an audience is leverage. And so as we see sort of this transition from like Web 2 to Web 3, where everybody sort of breaks it down, Web 1 was read, Web 2 is read, write, Web 3 is read, write, own. If the creators of platforms and communities within Web 3 are the users and owners, it makes sense that they would be less likely to embrace traditional methods of advertising. There are some stats out there, like 96% of people hate ads. Yeah, nobody likes most advertising. There are great ads, but by and large people don't want advertising. So those who are sort of able to understand how to embrace communities and build communities, they're going to have a leg up as we sort of transition to Web 3. And we're already seeing the ripple effects of this. Brendan Gahan:I mean like iOS 14 impacted the ability to advertise, do targeted advertising. Creators are launching big brands now faster than ever, partnering with creators is the easiest way to have an impact because they've maintained that direct line of communication to their audience. And so I think creators building and owning brands is really exciting. And also, people are like, oh, like creators think it's in this nascent state. And yes, in the grand scheme of things, it is. But there are already multi billion dollar creator brands. It's so funny, I mean, you probably know him, but Richard Ryan, he was a YouTuber back in the day. I used to do a ton of work with him. He and this other YouTuber, Matt Best, they partnered with some other guys a few years back. They were the guys that launched Black Rifle Coffee, which I didn't realize how big that brand was until they IPOed, and like- Chris Erwin:Yeah, they just went public, right? Brendan Gahan:They went public. I actually was in Austin two weeks ago, I hung out with Richard. It was so wild. It's like, that was built, the platform for that initially was YouTubers. So it's really fascinating. And we're seeing all these other great brands, Logan Paul and KSI, their Gatorade competitor, et cetera. I think that aspect of the business, it just shows how powerful these creators are, which I think is really, really exciting. Chris Erwin:The Black Rifle Coffee, we were doing some research into that company a year ago to understand how some of these creator led brands and particularly CPG brands are incubated and looking at their story, and look, I don't want to undersell what they have done, but I think the quality of their coffee is good, but that's not their specialty. It's that they have these personalities behind it. And this ethos founded by former members of the military, pride in country. And they've built an incredible business doing that. And they've gotten a lot of other ambassadors that have helped them build their business along the way. And I think, yeah, it was funny, Chas was telling me about this. I guess you guys maybe hung out with Richard together. I would love to interview Richard on the podcast. So if he's listening, I'm going to be reaching out soon. Brendan Gahan:Richard's a really, really good dude. Chris Erwin:All right. So Brendan, we're going to enter the last segment of this interview. We're going to do a rapid fire, six questions, and the rules are as follows. With these questions, looking for short answers. So one sentence, or maybe even just one to two words, do you understand the rules? Brendan Gahan:Yes. Chris Erwin:Let's get into it. Proudest life moment? Brendan Gahan:Still ahead of me. Chris Erwin:What do you want to do less of in 2022? Brendan Gahan:Emails and late night work sessions. Chris Erwin:What do you want to do more of? Brendan Gahan:IRL time with friends and family. Chris Erwin:Okay. Maybe more time in Bitcoin Beach, down in El Salvador. Brendan Gahan:Yeah. Serious. Chris Erwin:What one to two things drive your success? Brendan Gahan:I'll keep this one short, crippling insecurity. Chris Erwin:Okay. I dig it. Advice for media execs going into 2022? Brendan Gahan:Get your hands dirty. Chris Erwin:Any future startup ambitions? Brendan Gahan:TBD. Chris Erwin:To elaborate on that, that could be some intrapreneurship at Mekanism or other things you're doing on the sides. I think my prediction is, this audience that you're building particularly on TikTok, I think something's going to come out of that in a pretty unique way. Brendan Gahan:So long as I can think and strategize, I'm very content. Chris Erwin:Here's the last one, Brendan, pretty easy. How can people get in contact with you? Brendan Gahan:Just Google my name, Brendan, B-R-E-N-D-A-N, Gahan, G-A-H-A-N. I'm on all the socials. So whatever your platform of choice is, you'll be able to find me. Chris Erwin:Yeah. And his website is great, lots of content there. Brendangahan.com. All right, cool. Brendan, thanks for being on the show. This was a delight. Brendan Gahan:Thank you. This was a lot of fun. I really appreciate you having me on and I love all the content you guys put out, so I'm really stoked to have made the cut and be on this. Chris Erwin:Very welcome, an easy decision. Chris Erwin:Wow. That was a super fun interview. And I really learned a lot. I think that Brendan and I are kindred spirits in a couple ways. One, our mutual love for surfing in Southern California, and two, just the vulnerabilities of putting yourself out there as a content creator. So that was really fun. Quick note, we just hosted our first executive event of 2022 just this past Thursday in LA. We did a media and commerce executive dinner at Chilena. It was awesome. We had an incredible array of guests. I think over 50 people came out and I also hosted a panel about the future of livestream commerce. So we had the head of operations of Popshop Live there, and the founder and CEO of both Verb, which is the parent company of Market.live and also StageTEN, just an awesome chat. It was a lot of fun, really great energy, and we're pumped to do more. Chris Erwin:So I think we're planning a dinner for investors in media and commerce coming up in the fall in New York City. And then also, we want to put another one together for sports media. So if you'd like to get involved as a sponsor, as a guest, or you want to be on a panel that I will moderate, reach out, you can hit us up at hello@wearerockwater.com. And then as always for all you listeners out there of our podcasts, we love to hear from you. If you have any ideas for guests or any feedback on the show, just shoot us a note, TCUpod@wearerockwater.com. All right, that's it everybody. Thanks for listening. Chris Erwin:The Come Up is written and hosted by me, Chris Erwin, and is a production of RockWater Industries. Please rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts and remember to subscribe wherever you listen to our show. And if you really dig us, feel free to forward The Come Up to a friend. You can sign up for our company newsletter at wearerockwater.com/newsletter, and you could follow us on Twitter @TCUpod. The Come Up is engineered by Daniel Tureck, music is by Devon Bryant, logo and branding is by Kevin Zazzali, and special thanks to Alex Zirin and Eric Kenigsberg from the RockWater team. 

Jim Louderback is general manager of VidCon. Starting in 2010, the multi-genre online video tech conference has become the world's largest celebration of digital creators and online video. Joining the team in 2014 as editorial director of the industry track, he took over as chief executive three years later and led VidCon's sale to Viacom in 2018. In this in-depth conversation, Jim reflects on starting his career by building computer systems for big companies, and shares the story of how he “fell into media accidentally;” discusses being CEO of Revision3 and what the motivation was for Discovery to acquire the channel in 2012; and explains his plans to expand VidCon's reach by making their events global.

For show notes and transcript visit: https://kk.org/cooltools/jim-louderback-web-video-pioneer/ If you're enjoying the Cool Tools podcast, check out our paperback book Four Favorite Tools: Fantastic tools by 150 notable creators, available in both Color or B&W on Amazon: https://geni.us/fourfavoritetools Our guest this week is Jim Louderback. Jim runs events business VidCon at ViacomCBS. Jim joined VidCon in 2014 as editorial director, took over as CEO in 2017 and sold VidCon to Viacom in 2018. He previously built and sold video network Revision3 to Discovery, was editor-in-chief of PC Magazine and helped start cable TV network TechTV. You can sign up for his newsletter "Inside the Creator Economy” on his Linkedin profile page, and find him on Twitter and on TikTok @jlouderb.

Kevin Rose is a partner at True and a serial entrepreneur best known for founding Digg and Revision3. Most recently, he founded Oak, a guided meditation app, and Zero, an app for tracking intermittent fasting. 00:08 – Introduction of Kevin Rose, Modern Finance and the story of Reddit vs. DIGG 06:04 – From DOS to Windows, where are we in the evolution of crypto 07:50 – Crypto is here to stay. Could we see countries getting into it in the future? 14:47 – The NFT craze 19:58 – NFT: dynamic art and encrypting mystery over time 23:08 – Blockchain is persistent and permanent; how will this impact NFTs in art and games? 32:49 – From investing into educating people on crypto 39:35 – Discussing the repercussion of Christie’s endorsement of NFTs 43:22 – Kevin Rose’s investing philosophy 49:34 – Kevin’s advice: test features

This week on #TheBraveMarketer Podcast, Kevin Rose, Serial Entrepreneur and Partner at True Ventures, discusses the entrepreneurial mindset and tolerance that's led to his success and how marketers can follow suit, regardless of their size of business. Kevin Rose currently works as a partner at True Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology startups. To date, True has helped more than 300 companies launch and scale their businesses. Prior to joining True Ventures, Kevin founded Digg, Revision3 and most recently, Zero, an app for tracking intermittent fasting Kevin has been featured on the cover of Inc. Magazine, BusinessWeek, and RedHerring. Kevin was named a "Top 25 Angel Investors" by Bloomberg, a "Top 25 Web Celebrity" by Forbes, a "Top 35 Innovator" by MIT, and in the "Top 25 Most Influential People on the Web" by Time and BusinessWeek magazines. In this episode of The Brave Marketer Podcast, we discuss: Going viral on YouTube overnight Partnering with influencers to grow your brand Conquering your fears in entrepreneurship  This week's Brave Pick of the Week is Roku Gin. Check out their website here.   About this show: Brave is at the forefront of a new online privacy frontier and has unique insight into the future of marketing and advertising in a cookieless world. If you're an agency, brand marketer or entrepreneur challenged by the changes in ethical advertising, consumer privacy and buyer expectations, this podcast will provide a backstage view of how influential marketers at top brands and agencies are responding to what's next. Music by: Ari Dvorin Hosted by: Donny Dvorin

Jim Louderback is the GM & SVP VidCon at Viacom, overseeing the world’s largest event series for online video creators, fans, and industry executives. Jim began his career in consulting and publishing, helping companies navigate the transformation to online media. In 2007, he became the CEO of Revision3, one of the first online video networks, which Discovery acquired in 2012. Since then, he’s spent his time investing in and advising early stage companies before joining VidCon full time in 2017. This is a special round 2 episode with Jim, who originally joined me back in January 2019! In this latest conversation, we talk about how the pandemic has sparked yet another digital transformation in Jim’s career. He started off working in magazines at the dawn of the Internet, then spent time in radio and TV when content started going online, and now he’s helped VidCon evolve from a live event business to a company that builds online and offline communities. Jim and I also explore the rise of audio social platforms, from Clubhouse to Fireside and Twitter Spaces. Some are championing the spontaneity and exclusivity of live ephemeral experiences while others are taking an asynchronous approach to promote scaled and shareable online conversations. Finally, we examine the recent hype around non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and their place in both the physical and virtual worlds. Jim predicts that as we increasingly colonize the metaverse, our NFTs will live there, primarily as a means of self-expression. Host: James Creech LEAVE US A REVIEW! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review! https://ratethispodcast.com/allthingsvideo LISTENER SUPPORT If you’d like to make a small monthly donation to help support future episodes, please visit https://anchor.fm/allthingsvideopodcast/support ABOUT THE SHOW All Things Video is a podcast dedicated to uncovering the past and charting the future of the online video ecosystem. Listen to interviews with founders, executives, and thought leaders from the world’s leading media companies and engage in thought-provoking debates about the issues shaping the next generation of entertainment. From the short-form content revolution to the fragmentation of video viewership in an always-on world, All Things Video reveals the key trends and insights from the world of digital media. Follow All Things Video on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for new episodes and updates! ABOUT THE HOST James Creech is an entrepreneur focused on technology, online video, and digital media. He is the Co-Founder & CEO of Measure Studio (next-gen social media analytics) and Paladin (the essential influencer marketing platform).

Kevin Rose is an Internet entrepreneur who co-founded Revision3, Digg, Pownce, and Milk. In this conversation, we discuss early days of building on the internet, modern media models, content moderation, deplatforming, and the importance of decentralization. ======================= Exodus is an absolute game changer in the crypto wallet space, and we’ve teamed up to offer an exclusive discount for you, as listeners of the podcast. Sign up for Exodus today using my promo code Exodus.io/pomp. This is a no brainer for both newcomers and crypto heavyweights - go sign up today.  ======================= Crypto.com is the only all-in-one platform that allows you to BUY / SELL / STORE / EARN / LOAN / INVEST crypto all from one place. Join over 1 million users currently using the Crypto.com app. Download and earn $50 USD using my code ‘pomp2020’, or use the link https://platinum.crypto.com/r/pomp2020 when you sign up for one of their metal cards today. ======================= Download the top-rated DraftKings Sportsbook app NOW and use promo code POMP when you sign up to get one hundred to one odds on any football game THIS WEEKEND. That’s code POMP for new players to get a shot at one hundred dollars on any football action this weekend.… for a limited time, only at DraftKings Sportsbook! =======================

Frederique, Owen, and Zach talk tech! The show notes for this episode follow without hyperlinks, I'll add links shortly! Clubhouse, Facebook Catch Up, Twitter/Trump/Zuck, Nebula, YourStack, Tella, Apple Glasses, Focals by North, Snap Spectacles, Oculus, Daniel Suarez, Magic Leap loses CEO gets funding, Leap Motion is the company we confused it with, Hololens by Microsoft, Microsoft Build: Fluid, Owen's website page "What I use", Houseparty, FB Messenger Rooms, J oe Rogan Show moves to Spotify, Video podcasts on Spotify, Revision3, Spotify Concerts, and Join us in Discord!

NOTE: This episode was recorded on 13 March, 2020. As the global situation of COVID-19 continues to evolve rapidly, some content in this episode is likely out of date already and some content was edited out post-recording. Please turn to your local government and health officials for the latest information. Stripe supporting Nazi payments (Twitter thread), Sounder.fm raises $1.8M, Spotify buying the Ringer, Zach reminisces over Revision3, Owen is going to write about his Surface Pro X on OneZero, Shopify is giving employees $1,000 for working from home, AT&T data caps pulled, Be cautious of Zoom's privacy policy, and Long finger Jenga. Join us in Discord and leave us a voice message!

Kade Dworkin has been around the YouTube ecosystem almost since the start. Working at places like Revision3 and the early days of VaynerMedia he's seen it all. He joins Tom with some reminiscing on the early days as well as what he's focussed right now with closed captions and his new project WHEN WAS THAT SAID tool that helps finds exactly what is said in video content and completely blew our minds!  Here's the episode timeline:  01:00 - Carlos' weather report. 03:40 - Sponsor message - TubeBuddy 05:35 - Tom's Kade Dworkin introduction. 07:45 - Is Kade Dworkin a real name?  09:30 - How Kade's career brought him to YouTube.  12:25 - Kade's journey as a YouTube creator. 15:45 - Kade's experience as an early employee of Gare Vee and Vayner Media. 20:32 - What CaptionsCreated handles closed captions differently.  23:25 - Why closed captions are so important.  32:16 - When Was That Said?  44:38 - How to get access to When Was That Said tool. Exclusive VIP link!  47:05 - What's next...Kade's list of brilliant ideas. 54:08 - Closing comments and insights on Tom's chat with Kade.  Show notes: Where to follow Kade Dworkin, on Twitter at @KadeDworkin and on Linkedin.  WhereWasThatSaid.com and don't forget our special VideoInsiders link. The Video Insiders Podcast is available on all major podcast players. Visit VideoInsiders.fm here and subscribe. Thanks to our friends at TubeBuddy for supporting the show. You can use the same pro tools that YouTube professionals like we do to manage multiple channels. Click here for a special offer for Video Insider listeners. 
Follow Tom at @channel_fuel and Carlos at @carlospache_co on Twitter. If you're a creator or media company looking for help building YouTube channels, managing content ID or need YouTube coaching you can reach Tom at http://channelfuel.com or Carlos at http://pachworkrights.com  Podcast Music by Planets Collide and podcast editing by Joe Pacheco   

Today we are talking with Jim Louderback, the GM of VidCon. Over the last 5 years Jim has worked with Hank and John Green to build VidCon in to what it is today. Jim has been in online video since the beginning, yet he is still one of the most enthusiastic people in the space. He was previously the CEO of Revision3 and was also with TechTV and editor-in-chief of PC Magazine. In this interview we chat about a number of aspects such as the common traits amongst great Youtube creators and the issues with YouTube and multi channel networks (MCNs)

Jim Louderback. Jim is one of the most respected figures in digital media with a 20-year history of leadership at the intersection of publishing and technology. Jim currently runs VidCon as a stand-alone division of Viacom. VidCon is the world’s largest online video conference in Anaheim, Amsterdam, London and Australia. Jim joined VidCon in 2014 as editorial director of the industry track and took over as CEO in 2017. In early 2018 he played the leading role in the sale of VidCon to Viacom. Throughout his career, Jim has earned a reputation as a visionary who excels at leading startups, growth businesses and turnarounds. His most well-known role prior to VidCon was as CEO of Revision3, where he helped drive a 20x increase in viewers and a 12x increase in revenue from 2007 to 2012. Creative Disruption Podcast with Ricky Ray Butler and Derral Eves - Insights and stories from leading creators, writers, producers and marketers on how the worlds of advertising, entertainment, and data science are converging.

Jay Adelson is the cofounder or CEO of Equinix, Revision3 and Digg. From a career that has taken him from building the first data centers to creating a wildly growing news aggregator, Jay has truly unique insight into Silicon Valley. In this conversation Jay traces his path from working at a temp agency to building the largest data center in the world. Nerd out with us as we discuss how you obtained a URL before the Internet even had a governing body – and before the web existed; the battle over whether the Internet should ever be commercial; and the kind of technologies you can only invent when you are the core of the Internet. Also discussed – should you be CEO of two companies? Why didn’t Revision3 become Youtube? Why was it called Revision3? Did Reddit replace Digg? What did Youtube get wrong, and Twitter get right? Oh, and play more pinball! https://somethingventured.us 

The video game website Giant Bomb recently celebrated its tenth birthday so what better time to talk to its creator about the early days of the online games media, the future of games coverage, and getting fired in front of the entire world. iTunes Page: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/noclip/id1385062988 RSS Feed: http://noclippodcast.libsyn.com/rssGoogle Play: https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/If7gz7uvqebg2qqlicxhay22qny Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5XYk92ubrXpvPVk1lin4VB?si=JRAcPnlvQ0-YJWU9XiW9pg Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/noclippodcast Watch our docs: https://youtube.com/noclippodcast Sub our new podcast channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSHBlPhuCd1sDOdNANCwjrA Learn About Noclip: https://www.noclip.videoBecome a Patron and get early access to new episodes: https://www.patreon.com/noclip Follow @noclipvideo on Twitter Hosted by @dannyodwyerFunded by 4,638 Patrons. --------------------------------------------------------------   - [Danny] Hello and welcome to Noclip, the podcast about video games, the people who make them, and the people who play them. On today's episode we talk to a guy who grew up a short drive from the epicenter of the online media revolution. As video game website Giant Bomb recently celebrated its 10th year of operation, we decided to talk to its founder about skipping school, hosting podcasts, and getting fired in front of the entire world. Jeff Gerstmann is a name you either know or don't, depending on whether or not you care about the world of games coverage. Outside of the world of games, Jeff is a husband, son, and a grown-up local kid in Petaluma, a city in Northern California that sits on the outskirts of what many would consider a reasonable commute to San Francisco. There he grew up with his mum and dad who operated a tire shop. A small town kid, with a small town life who loved rap, skateboards, and video games. But inside the world of games Jeff is larger than life. He's part of a dwindling older generation of journalists who were there when the magazines died, and the world of internet reporting exploded. He's lead the charge on finding new ways to talk about games, be it on video, podcast or late light E3 live shows. And crucially, his surname became a rallying cry for media ethics when he fell victim to one of the most lamentable acts of brand self-destruction of the digital age. Much of Jeff's story lives in the gaming zeitgeist. Before I met him, I thought I knew most of it. You see, to me Jeff was a hero. He had figured it all out. Growing up in Ireland, years before Twitch or even YouTube had started, I'd watch him host shows broadcast live from the GameSpot offices in San Francisco. His job was talking about games, and he knew more about games than anyone I'd ever seen trying to do it on television. His job became a north star that I'd spend years following. And when I'd eventually find myself working in the same building those shows were filmed in, sitting at a desk a short walk from his, I slowly began to get a deeper understanding of Jeffrey Michael Gerstmann. Equal parts a quiet, contemplative person and a troublemaker, now responsible for keeping order. I recently sat down with Jeff to talk about the 10 Year Anniversary of his career's second act, the video game website GiantBomb.com. But the story of Giant Bomb and the story of Jeff Gerstmann are intertwined. So to tell you how Giant Bomb was founded we have to go back to a small town in Northern California, to the kid of the folks who ran the tire shop in sunny, quiet, suburban, Petaluma. - [Jeff] The first video game console I owned, it was the Fairchild Channel F, which was, it kinda came out around the same time, same window as the Atari 2600 but it had a few more educational games so I think that tipped my parents in the favor of getting that thing, it had this terrible plunger controller, there was like a decent bowling game but it just immediately failed. I had relatives who had an Atari 2600 and would kinda covet that thing and eventually they gave it to me when the video game industry kinda crashed. But we got into computers not long after that. I got an Atari 400 and that was really the first proper like hey, this is a somewhat successful platform with stuff coming out that mattered. And so I mostly started on a computer. - [Danny] What was the impetus for your parents getting it? Were they interested in technology at all or were you crying for it or what was the story there? - [Jeff] You know, my dad played some video games certainly over the years but I think that was largely because that's what I was interested in. We were going to arcades a lot and on the weekends we would go out, there was an arcade in town called Dodge City and we would go to Dodge City. You know, my mom went once or twice, this was like the height of Pac-Man fever so like I would be there, my dad would be there, we'd be playing games and there would just be this huge line almost out the door of people waiting to play Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Man. And it was just weird, you know, because it was just another game, like to me it was just like, all right, well yeah, I don't know, Pac-Man's over there and it is what it is and I'm over here playing Galaxian or Vanguard or you know, whatever the heck else, I don't really remember talking to too many people about video games. This was, you know, this woulda been, god, 82 ish, like early to mid 80s really and I was going to elementary school then and just there were like one or two other kids I knew that had computers but most kids didn't and they weren't really into video games per say or if they were they weren't really letting on. So there was one kid I knew that had a TRS-80 and so I'd go over to his place and play Parsec and some other stuff like that. There was a kid near the tire shop that my parents ran that had a VIC-20 and I could go over there and play like Radar Rat Race and some other stuff too. - [Danny] So, I guess, what did you want to be when you grew up when you were like a middle schooler? Obviously games journalism wasn't a target you could exactly aim for so what were you thinking about your future when you were in like middle school, high school? - [Jeff] When I was in high school we saw a posting, so LucasArts was relatively local, they were in Marin County and, you know, this woulda been like 1990, 1991, somewhere around there, and they were looking for testers. And I remember applying for it but like I was 15. Like it was, logistically it would've been impossible for me to even do that job 'cause I couldn't even drive a car yet. And it was 20ish miles away. But also like I remember writing, like they wanted a resume, I wrote an essay and it was like, you should give me this job. It was real dumb, I mean, whatever, in retrospect it was like, that is not a way to get a job. Also, ridiculous to assume that that would've even been possible at 15. But yeah, that was the first time I ever really thought about working in video games, I woulda been like 14 or 15. - [Danny] So how did it actually come to pass then? What was your first gig in the industry and how did you end up getting it? - [Jeff] So, I started going to trade shows, I met a guy a named Glenn Rubenstein who was a year younger than I was and we went to the same school, we went to the same high school. And Glenn was writing video game reviews for the local Petaluma newspaper and also I think he had a column in the San Francisco Examiner which was a newspaper. And so there would be articles about like, this youthful guy writing game reviews, look at this guy, it was like kind of a story or whatever. So we became friends, then he kinda said like, hey, I'm going to CES, do you wanna come with me? And I was like, yeah, I would love to go see video games. - [Danny] How old are you? - [Jeff] This is, I'm 16 at this point, he's 15. - [Danny] Wow, okay. It's in Vegas, right? - It's in Vegas also, yes. He's like, hey do you wanna come to Las Vegas. So I pitched it to my parents and just said like, hey, this thing's going on, I'd really like to go do it and they said yes, for whatever reason they said yes. And so me and Glenn set out to go, he had been to one before, he had been to CES I think the previous CES in Chicago might've been his first and so I went with him to that and just like I bought myself like a blazer and put it on and went to this trade show and went around and played video games and tried to play blackjack wearing a blazer because I looked like maybe I was of age. And that's where we met Ryan McDonald. We needed, honestly, I think we just needed more people to help pay for the hotel room or something like that and Ryan was doing something similar, he was writing about video games for a Healdsburg newspaper, which is about 40 miles north of Petaluma, where I'm now, which, for people who don't know, Petaluma is about 40 miles north of San Francisco, so, you know, Healdsburg's getting pretty far out there. And we met Ryan at the local mall, he seemed like an okay guy and we're like, yeah, you wanna come, let's go to Las Vegas. And so I kind of started just going to trade shows, we all met the guys from Game Informer pretty early on, Andy McNamara and Paul and some of the early other reviewers that were there at the time, Elizabeth Olsen and people like that, and we knew some people that were doing PR for video games at the time and stuff like that so we just kinda started meeting people and getting around. So that led to, Glenn ended up, so Glenn actually got me my first couple of jobs afterwards. We started going to the trade shows, we were doing a local public access show that was not about video games, it wasn't about much of anything really, and basically like barely getting by in high school 'cause we were just doing all this other stuff and not wanting to go to school very much. And so he ended up getting in at a magazine, they were starting up a magazine, they were originally gonna call it Blast, they were gonna call it Blast and it was gonna be like this lifestyle magazine funded by the, I guess the CEO of Creative Labs, so the Sound Blaster people were starting, basically funding a magazine. And so I spent a year commuting to Berkeley working for this magazine right after I got out of high school, so that woulda been like 1994. I was 19 commuting to Berkeley, working for a magazine, having no idea what I was doing, and we were covering Doom and we were covering, what are some fun things you could do with your Creative Labs branded sound card and stuff like that, that place lasted a little under a year before it folded. We made it about three issues, I think there was fourth that was almost done, and then I was out of there and had no idea what to do next. I was 19 and jaded and like burned by how that job went and angry at everything. - [Danny] Yeah, had you dropped out of high school, had you just sorta finished it and then left off or were you thinking about college or were you thinkin', oh shit, do I jump to another journalism gig, what was your head space then? - [Jeff] I finished high school. Between the public access show we were doing and this video game stuff that was still pretty nascent, you know, it wasn't really a job, it was very easy to look at that stuff and go like, man, I don't wanna go to school, like it's a waste of time. And so there was awhile there that like, I'll get my GED which is like so you can kinda test out of high school. And they tell you that it's equivalent to a high school diploma but then in some ways it's kind of not, I don't know, there was a weird. I had missed so much school and also we, so we were doing the public access show and I filmed a teacher, so a teacher at the high school I was going to, our chemistry teacher got fired and I believe the talk was, and I'm not sure, it was sexual harassment from the sounds of things, like to students. And so the first day that they introduced here's your new chemistry teacher I had the video camera that we used to tape the show so I filmed them introducing this new teacher and all this other stuff and like asked them questions like it was a press conference. And they answered, no one said, hey put that thing down. Like I was very clearly pointing a video camera at them. And then like the next day, that day, the day after, something like that, like the principal called me and said, hey, what are you gonna do with that video tape? And I said, well we're gonna put it on television. - [Danny] Oh my gosh. - [Jeff] And he was super not happy about that. - [Danny] I wonder why. - [Jeff] Yeah, and so at that point we realized we had something so we called the papers and said, hey we got this tape and they started investigating it and it became a story, it was something that they, I think they were trying to keep very quiet. Later on that teacher would show up at my doorstep looking for a copy of the tape because he was trying to sue the, I don't know, he was trying to get something out of the school district or something over what happened, this was years later after I was out of high school. So that was very strange. So after that between the amount of school we were missing, I had like a guidance counselor basically recommend that I should go on independent study. Which was basically, at the time it was primarily, it woulda been like pregnant teens and people that like were having trouble in school and that sorta stuff and they were like, oh, we're piloting a new program for kids who don't necessarily fit into the standard curriculum and they pitched it like that but basically it felt like they were just trying to get me and Glenn out of there. - [Danny] Right, journalist at heart it turns out. - [Jeff] I guess, I don't know. And so that led to me getting much higher grades and stuff because I was able to just kinda like crank through stuff really quickly. I graduated early because I just finished the work. I mean, I graduated like two weeks early, not hugely early. But it was great, it felt like I was getting one over on the school district because I was doing a full semester of science while like reading a book in my patents hot tub or, you know, just like stupid crap like that. I was getting like journalism credit for the stuff we were doing going to trade shows and like video production, they were just throwin' credits at me left and right and so yeah, I graduated early, it was great, I was able to take that and go back to the high school that I had stopped going to and go talk to like the one teacher that I liked, Mr. Moore, he was a math teacher, great guy, I think he taught some of the computer stuff also. And I remember telling him like, hey, I just graduated. And he just looked at me and said, god dammit, Gerstmann, you got 'em. He seemed like dismayed that I had managed to get one over on the system somehow but he couldn't help, but yeah, it was a, that felt pretty good. - [Danny] Through his life, Jeff's do-it-his-own way attitude has been both a source of great strength and the catalyst for much drama. He attended a local junior college for a semester, but it didn't stick, preferring to do extra-curricular work like attending trade-shows with his friend Ryan McDonald, hanging out with local bands, and as he put it, learning how to drink. Around this time Glenn, who had gotta him the job at the magazine years earlier, started working for a new website in San Francisco's Richmond district. Just a few blocks from the servers of archive.org on the cloudy avenues of Clement Street, lied an office where a staff of 20 was running the website GameSpot. They had hired Glenn to lead the charge on a new console-focused spin-off of the site that they were going to call VideoGameSpot. - [Jeff] Glenn hired Ryan McDonald not long after that to be like the strategy slash codes editor and then I started freelancing for him because they wanted 100 reviews by launch and they were lookin' to launch like three months, four months from that time. And so I started crankin' out reviews and the way I always heard it was that I was turning reviews around really quickly, really clean copy, and so Vince Broady kinda said like, hey, bring this guy and let's see. And they brought me in as like an editorial assistant which was more or less an intern type role and within two or three months, not even two or three months, within like a month, the launch editor, there was a guy, Joe Hutsko, who would come on, it was one of Vince's friends who had just come on I think to kinda see this console site through to launch and then I think he was gonna go on to do something else somewhere else and I was working late one night and Joe Hutsko walked by and saw me there and he was like, you're still here, what are you doin'? I was like, this work has to get done. And then like the next day I had an offer letter for a full time job at that point. - [Danny] GameSpot would go through several transformations and acquisitions over the coming years. But as the business side of online media was learning how to walk, emerging technologies were creating exciting new ways for people to talk about games. GameSpot led this charge with one of the first video game podcasts, The Hotspot, and a weekly live show, On The Spot. Suddenly these young game reporters were starting to become more than just bylines. For years readers, the folks writing reviews and new articles, were just names at the bottom of a page. But now, for the first time, they were people with voices and faces. People with unique perspectives, opinions and personalities. And Jeff, with his experience doing public access shows in Petaluma, was at the forefront of this new form of media. The idea of streaming video games on the internet now is so blase and normal but back then I think to a lot of people it felt like magical, like a television channel that's broadcasting about games. From your perspective on your guys's end, did it feel weird to be like doing a live show that people were watching while you were just talking about this relatively niche hobby? - [Jeff] It felt like a natural extension of the stuff we had been doing. And it felt like, I don't know, it felt fresh and cool and like the tech was weird and sometimes it didn't work the way you wanted it to but at the same time we were wearing makeup, we had built a studio, we had lights, we had a jib, it was Frank Adams lowering a camera into the shot and all this other stuff and so coming from like these lame public access shows I was doing when I was 16 and stuff, like I had a weird leg up on a lot of other people because I was already relatively comfortable being in front of a camera. - [Danny] GameSpot continued to evolve. It went from indie to being purchased by media house Ziff Davis who then eventually sold it to CNET. By this stage the editor in chief was Greg Kasavin, who you may now recognize as the creative director of Supergiant Games, a studio we're currently running an embedded series on. His two right hand men at the time were Ricardo Torres on previews and Jeff on reviews. But when Greg left to start his career in games production, the role was never properly filled. Instead Ricardo and Jeff sort of ran it together, with increased influence being exerted on them from the powers above. The original founders of GameSpot had come from a editorial background but they were gone and the site was now being managed by people were less seasoned, more traffic orientated, and didn't value the power of editorial independence as much as they should have. - [Jeff] You know, there was an understanding about like this is kinda how this stuff is supposed to work, it's not always supposed to be an easy relationship if everyone's kind of sticking to their guns and doing their jobs and stuff. I don't know that they always saw the value of that, I think that's something that they corrected quickly, it was just kind of, it was a blip, if you look at GameSpot as a 20 plus year institution there was that brief period of time there where it was like, man, this went a little sideways for a bit and I was just in the right place at the right time, wrong place wrong time, whatever it was. - [Danny] What happened to Jeff next has been told a thousand times with new pieces added as time has provided new context. I myself spent years trying to fill in the blanks on how it all went down. Talking to friends and colleagues of Jeff who were there that day. It was a Wednesday in November, 2007 and the office was busily preparing for the weekly live-show which aired on Thursday afternoon. Jeff had just another another brush-up with management, this time over a review of Kane and Lynch which had made the sales department uncomfortable as they had sold a large advertising campaign to the game's publisher Eidos. If you visited GameSpot that week, the entire homepage was taken over by messaging about the game alongside a six out of ten review from Jeff. Jeff had had some run ins with top brass before and felt like he'd come close to losing his job a few times but this wasn't one of those times. It seemed like it had been dealt with, and he was already working on his next review. Later that morning his supervisor called him into a meeting and then called HR. He was told he was being terminated immediately, and as California is an at-will employment state, Jeff had no recourse. He was told to clean out his desk and bizarrely he was allowed to walk the halls for the rest of the day. Saying goodbye to his friends and colleagues, who were cursing the names of those in charge. Jeff drove home that day, the same 40 mile commute between San Francisco and Petaluma he had done thousands of times before. But this time it would be different, it would be a number of years before he stepped foot in the building again. There was no live show that week, the Kane and Lynch review had been taken down and then reposted and slowly over the coming days rumors began to circulate about Jeff's termination. Popular webcomic Penny Arcade ran a strip outlining the pressure from Eidos. Staff from the website 1UP, who were located just a block north of GameSpot on San Francisco's 2nd Street, held a protest outside the lobby of the building in support of the remaining staff. In an age before social media it would be a full eight days before the staff would actually speak up. And it happened on the next episode of On The Spot. The show ran with a somber opening. Ryan McDonald flanked by Ricardo Torres and a wincing Alex Navarro explained the situation. The camera pans out to reveal a full set with previewer Brad shoemaker, new hire Kevin VanOrd, community manager Jody Robinson and reporter Brendan Sinclar among a dozen of other staff. - [Ryan] Obviously we wanted to start today's On the Spot off a little different than we had in the past. The recent events and what happened last week in regards to our longtime friend and colleague, Jeff Gerstmann, being dismissed. It's been really hard on us and the response obviously's been tremendously immense and it's been on both sides. It's nice to see that everybody speaks up and has been kinda pullin' for us. On the other hand it's been hard obviously seein' GameSpot sucks written 100,000 times on forums and stuff so obviously we wanted to address this and talk to you guys today. Jeff was a personal friend to pretty much everybody so it was really, really hard that it happened the way it did. But yeah, we really wanted to say that we love and miss Jeff and give him, honestly, the proper send off that he deserves so that's what today's show's all about. And obviously you can see this is hard for me personally. - [Danny] For Jeff things were equally as bizarre. Tech Blogs like ValleyWag were running stories about the state of the site which were clearly sourced from somebody inside of GameSpot. The LA Times ran a story about the firing. And Jeff's mother received a phone call from a newspaper in Norway looking for a quote. It was three a.m. when the phone rang. - [Jeff] You know, some of it was just like, some of the people I talked to were very like looking for more dirt, they were expecting me to get on the phone and be like, oh, well here's where the rest of the bodies are buried. But like, you know, I was shocked. I was not happy about the whole thing but at the same time I feel good about the work I did while I was there and there were so many great people there that kinda got caught in some of this crossfire a little bit. I wasn't like, oh well here's the other nasty things that happened, there wasn't any. There wasn't anything else. So some people were coming to me looking for like some bigger story that I just didn't have to give. And that was strange, it seemed like everyone wanted something from me for a little while and it was a very weird time. And so at that point it was like, 'cause you know, like I was not an editor in chief in title but you know, we were running an editorial team. And so there aren't a lot of jobs out there at that level. It wasn't like I could walk into IGN or 1UP or, you know, I don't even know who else was even out there at that point, it wasn't like I could walk into those places and say, yes, make me your editor in chief. Like, they already have people in those roles, it wasn't really a viable thing. So at that point I was like, well I kinda need to maybe start something new. The weekend after everything went down or it might've been, it was like the Friday after or maybe it was like a full week afterwards, a bunch of people that I used to work with came up here to my place and we just hung out, like kinda impromptu, just have a bunch of drinks, play some Rock Band, and that sorta thing, and Dave Snider came by, Ryan Davis invited Dave over. And Dave was working on his stuff, I think Boompa was still up, they had a car website, you know, they were running Comic Vine, they were building Political Base which was another kind of wiki focused site for political donations in the run up to that election there, this was November, 2007. And so they were starting a new company and looking to build, they were building websites. And I was like, oh, that's cool, awesome, and nothing really came of it for a little bit. So I went and did a show on Revision3, so I drove into San Francisco, did that show, and then on the way back from or as I was finishing up that show I got a call from Dave and he said, hey, you should come by the office in Sausalito and just come by. I was like, all right, cool. And so on my way back from there I stopped at the office in Sausalito and looked at Comic Vine, the other stuff they were doing, and we sat in a room and ate sandwiches and I more or less committed to them right there. It was kind of like an, oh, we'll think about it and they were very much like, hey, why don't you just take a month and get your head together, like take an actual break 'cause this is so crazy and then let us know what you wanna do. And so we kinda started building a website not too long after that. - [Danny] Over the coming weeks several of Jeff's friends would leave GameSpot. Some were burned out from games coverage, this latest spell just being the straw that broke the camel's back. But others were leaving to work with Jeff. Fellow Sonoma County local Ryan Davis was the first. The two of them set up a blog, and started to a run a podcast which they hurriedly titled, Arrow Pointing Down. - [Jeff] So, every single person at the company that we were, that I was now a part of were people that had worked at that old company. And so we did not wanna give the appearance of people getting poached out of there and like I don't know if there was an actual non compete with some of the people in the building or anything that would've prevented them from doing this stuff but all of it had to be kind of like quiet and so it couldn't be something as simple as like, hey we want to hire you over here. It had to be like, well, if you were, if you were no longer working and you needed a place to work we do have some opening. You know, it was very much that sort of thing. But I knew pretty immediately looking at it and going, okay, we wanna team of about this size and I knew that Alex would not be available, Alex Navarro, I knew that he was not looking to do this sort of work at that time. He was, you know, I think already thinking about Harmonix, he ended up doing public relations for Harmonix for a brief period of time. Like I pretty much had a whiteboard, I knew in my head that I, at that point it was like okay, this is me, it's Ryan, it's Brad, it's Vinny. Which is not how you're supposed to hire people. You know, some people are like, well what are the positions that we're looking to fill and all this other stuff and, but like knowing like what we looking to build and we needed to be a tight team, who were the people that are gonna be impactful in those roles, like okay, Brad has a lot of experience in previews, he is a person that I know, like he knows a ton of people around the game industry. Like, I've worked reviews and so on the review side of things we didn't talk to companies all that often. Brad had that in his role so he left, he left and he had other things that he was maybe thinking about doing, it wasn't like a, it was not a clandestine like, he left specifically to, it was like, okay, he's out and we're gonna figure this out. And then we needed someone to do do video and we had been working with Vinny for awhile and Vinny was fantastic and it was like, okay, Vinny's really funny, this seems like a good fit for him and so we kinda went about it that way. It felt like night and day a lot of ways, but very similar in others. We were able to sit down for the first time, for me the first time ever, like I never thought I would have the opportunity to build something like this, you know. I was always like very respectful or very envious of like Vince Broady as like the editorial lead of the founder of GameSpot and so I was like, man, he took a chance and built this thing and built it from the ground up and look at it, it's this huge, this monument, it's lasted so long. And I never thought I would have an opportunity like that in my career, it just never seemed like it was in the cards. And so being forced into it was exciting. Because it let me sit down and be like, okay, what do we actually want to do? What do we think is actually the best way to cover games with a small team in this day and age? And when we started in 96 on VideoGameSpot, like the videos had to be very low frame rate and very short because no one could download 'em and, you know, it was like we were doing minute long video clips of gameplay and that was revolutionary at the time. You know, you had to install the Real Video Player and all this, you know, all this other stuff. And here we were on the cusp of like, actually we can kind of, we can kinda livestream, you know, the services to do it easily weren't in place, you still had to host it yourself and that got very expensive and all that and YouTube wasn't really there in the way that they are now, YouTube existed but it was, I don't think you could put up videos that were longer than five or 10 minutes at the time and it just was not a viable place for that at the time. And so we had to kinda sit down and say, well with the technology we have available what can we do? And we wanted to be a podcast, the Hotspot was one of the most fun things I had doing in my entire time at GameSpot and we knew right out of the gate that we wanted to have a podcast be kind of one of the main things. And then from there it was like, okay, well, do we wanna write news? Not really, none of us are really news writers per say. And it was like, well, we need to able to capture video of games and put it on the internet. And we need to be able to talk alongside it or something like that, whether we're cutting it together or doing it on the fly. And so Mike Tatum, who was the head of biz dev for the company just went out to the Apple Store and came back with the biggest ass Mac Pro he could've gotten at the time and set it the room with me and Ryan and we looked at it and we were like, neither of us know how to use any of this shit. And we messed around with it long enough to figure out eventually we could capture some footage. We were like, okay, we figured out, first the game we captured footage of was Hot Shots Golf for the Playstation 3. And we were like, okay, we captured the footage, now what do we with it? And we hadn't answered that question yet 'cause there was no website to put it on or anything like that. So those early silly days of just like putting that stuff together. We didn't really know exactly what we wanted to do, it was just a matter, it was very freeing in way to be able to sit down and be like, okay, here are the things that we liked doing before, let's try to keep doing that. And then the rest is up in the air. For a long time there we weren't even necessarily sold on the idea of just covering video games. It was always meant to be bigger than that. We were gonna cover music, we were gonna cover movies, you know, all this other stuff. But at the end of the day old habits die hard, it was very easy for us to cover video games compared to like, calling music PR people out of the blue and being like, hey, we wanna interview this artist that's coming to town, can you set, you know, it was just, we stuck with what we knew and kinda just mainly covered video games and flavors of Gatorade. Really it was the original mandate for GameSpot was we wanna create a site that we ourselves would use. And I approached it that way and said like, well, what kind of game coverage do I actually care about? And a lot of the preview related stuff at the time was just not, it was a lot of like carved up little parts of a game. Like, we're gonna give you assets on these three new guns and this two new trees and it was like, here's the rims and tires of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Outlets used to compete for the exclusive rights to run stuff like that. It was a very different time so we knew we were never gonna matter to publishers the same way the big sites did and that was fine, we wanted to kinda do our own thing and so that led to it being a little more guerrilla. You talked earlier about long footage of games being something of a novelty or a weird impossibility back then but for us it kinda just became a necessity because of the number of people we had and the lack of time we could devote to actual editing. It was like, just stuff kinda came in long out of the gate. And so we first launched as just a WordPress blog and we went to our first E3 in 08 with just a WordPress blog. We could run videos on it but it was pretty bare bones. It was mostly a placeholder, it was like, here's the name of the site, you can comment on these stories, and we were just kind of writing news and reviews and putting up videos here and there. And it was all pretty straightforward stuff, it was like that and the podcast. And then we rolled out the full site not long after that E3, it was like July of that year I think and then that was like, okay, now here's this full wiki, here's all this other stuff. Better user features, full message boards, all this other stuff. And so we went at it that way for awhile and then the premium membership stuff came later. - [Danny] It wasn't just old staff who were leaving GameSpot for Jeff's new project, users were flocking too. Once the full site was launched tens of thousands of profiles were created, a large portion of which were disenfranchised GameSpot fans who wanted to support Jeff and the staff who had left. I was one of them and I remember that time well. The passion and excitement of those days was one of the most powerful moments I've had as part of an online community. And the folks at Whiskey Media used this passion to help fund the site. Giant Bomb had taken the ad-free subscription model that GameSpot had pioneered, and added much more. For $5 a month you not only supported some of your favorite creators, but got access to bonus videos and features. New users signed up in their droves. - [Jeff] The launch of the site proper exceeded our expectations in a way that like wiki submissions were taking a week or more to approve because so many people were signing up and contributing and all this other stuff, it was just, we were staying up all night working on just the community stuff, moderation stuff. And then the premium membership stuff did well out of the gate. We went back and forth on a few ideas about what are we offering here and all that sort of stuff but yeah, it did really well that first day. Advertising was never really a thing for us, we had one in house ad person eventually for a brief period of time but like, you know, advertising's all about eyeballs and we were never gonna be the biggest website in the world, it was we were about, okay, well we want people who really care about this stuff and so, you know, in advertising you're trying to make a case for just like, oh no, this is a smaller audience but they're smarter and they spend more money and you know, at some point you have to go out and educate brands and say like, here's why you wanna advertise here instead of there or spend your money with us because our people are smarter or this and that and at the end of the day advertisers just want eyeballs so like you can go in and pitch that story all you want, it's just not how the advertising model typically works. So we had a few things where like, you know, we had some sponsored achievements on the site and there was a livestream, I was actually against it, but they did a livestream for, NTSF:SUV:SD, I think was the ordering of that, an Adult Swim show. Actually, I thought it was pretty funny. They did a livestream like live watch along with it. And so we were doing a few things like that that were innovative at the time I guess and so you would have people who understood like, hey, the internet is changing, it's not necessarily about just raw eyeballs. We wanna find people who are more engaged with a thing and you know, this was kinda like the nascent form of like the influencer type stuff about like figuring out who are these people we can get that have sway with their audiences and so on and so forth. But, us being an editorial operation, we could never really go fully into that world. So the stuff that I would be comfortable doing in those spaces kinda, we ended up shooting down a lot of stuff, probably more stuff than we signed because it was like, no, I don't think we can do that. So the advertising stuff was never really gonna be for us and for those reasons, it's just, you know, the advertising market just wasn't really compatible with our size and our scope but also kind of our mentality and where we were at with stuff so we wanted to try and find something different. And again, that was another Dave Snider, Dave was kind of the main first proponent about like, no, people will pay for good stuff on the internet, I know it. And I think I was a little more like, I don't know, man, people like to pirate stuff. But he's like, no, this will, he won me over pretty fast and we went through with it, we went on with it. - [Danny] Giant Bomb has been running for a decade and in that time the site has evolved to keep up with the changing desires of its audience. But there are a few shows that have lasted the test of time. Their weekly podcast The Giant Bombcast has had over 570 episodes and is one of the most popular video game podcasts in the world. And their Quick Looks series predated the creation of Let's Plays, still exists today. I asked Jeff to tell me about some of his favorites are. He notes their live E3 internet show, and eventually making the podcast profitable as some of his proudest achievements. As shows have come and gone, so too have staff. Just like GameSpot created a platform for Jeff to make a name for himself. Giant Bomb has become an incubator of talent all to itself. As the sort of captain of the ship as well, what does it feel like to be responsible for kind of what Giant Bomb has become in terms of its, as an incubator for talent, right. You've had people come through the doors and leave out the other side to go on to wonderful careers as well. Do you take a pride in that, especially considering, you know, how you seem to have a reverence for the people who gave you opportunities in your early career. - [Jeff] It's cool, I don't always think about it. Like, I don't know, like I look at it and go like, did I do anything for anyone, I don't know, I'm just here, I don't know, I just do my thing. And I don't know that I always, I used to take it really personally back in the GameSpot days when anyone would leave. I would always think like, man, why would you, why would you go do something else, we're doing great, we're doing all this other stuff, and now I look at it in retrospect and go like, maybe it was people like me in the senior roles for as long as we were that led to people below us wanting to get out for more opportunities, and go like, man, yeah, okay. But yeah, I used to take it really personally 'cause I just, you know, it was great to just, there were times where, you know, man, this is the best team I've ever worked with, this is great. Oh, three people are leaving over the course of six months, what's goin on? And the people that left in the run up to me leaving, at the time I was really bummed out, in retrospect I was like, oh, yeah okay, I get it. And things change and people change and they want something else out of their careers and they wanna take on new challenges and all that sorta stuff and I think that's great. At the same time, like I miss the people that have moved on. Like, there was a time there that there were, we were starting to have conversations, it's like, no, we need to move Danny O'Dwyer over to Giant Bomb, like we have, this should happen. And then he went out and found fame and fortune on his own without us and I was like, well, shit. Let that one slip away, I guess. - [Danny] There will always be a part of me in my professional sort of hindsight that will, I remember when you mentioned that to me at a certain point, I can't remember, was it when I had already handed in my notice or I think it was probably a little bit before maybe, where like, that is like the ultimate dream come true. But now I have a new dream come true which is that I get to just pop into the office and review European sports games twice a year or whatever. - [Jeff] Right, yeah, I mean, I have a code for FIFA that I don't know what to do with so. Might be callin' you for that one. So, it's stuff like that, like it's great seeing people out there doing their thing, and the thing I've tried to be better at this time around that I was terrible at back in the GameSpot days is try to keep in touch with people on a regular basis. Like it can be so easy just to put your head down and be like, I'm surrounded by these people, these are the people I see everyday, these are the only people I talk to because I don't have time for anything else. Discord has actually been really useful at that, honestly. Like hey, let's keep in touch with friends and try to maintain these friendships and stuff like that. So yeah, it's great being in regular contact with people like Patrick and Austin Walker and stuff like that. - [Danny] Giant Bomb lived under the Whiskey Media banner for four years, but the media startup was struggling to grow at a rate required by the landscape of the bay area investors and so the decision was made to fold the company to sell of its assets to suitable suitors. What happened next seemed impossible to anybody watching from the stands. - [Jeff] The process of us selling the company was strange, for a lot of the reasons you would expect. But you know, I think the thing that happened, every start up that sells or fails or anything always like to say, aw, we were just too early. We had the best ideas, too early. But you know, in some cases if we were a year later or something like that and YouTube had been more viable for longer form videos, like who knows what woulda happened. You know, we made the best choices we could along the way but at the end of the day, you know, they had launched a lot of other sites and wanted it to be this big network and when that kinda, I think that wasn't happening at the rate that they needed it to happen so it became a case of just like, okay, maybe it's time to move on and move onto a different business and do a different thing and so we were at that point lucky enough to be something that was sellable, you know. Like you think about the number of start ups now, especially the number of content companies that launched and just went under. And with Giant Bomb with the premium memberships and that sort of stuff we were in a pretty good position there to where we were doing something that people I think were just starting to get a sense of just like, hey, maybe this direct to consumer like subscription type stuff is something we should care about. And so it was something that people were starting to wake up to and be like hey, maybe we want some kind of back pocket plan in case this advertising thing doesn't always work the way it works now. So Mike Tatum, the head of biz dev for Whiskey, asked me one day, he said, hey, would you be open to maybe selling the company to CBS? And I just laughed. And I was like yes, of course, absolutely, go have those conversations, that's the craziest thing anyone's ever said to me, absolutely, yeah, of course. That's the thing, it was a very different time, a very different company, all that other stuff. Like the stuff that happened to me was this blip on this timeline of this multi decade operation that has had good people at the helm of it for almost all of its time, you know. And most of the people that were there when I was there last time and involved in some of that unpleasantness were long gone. So at this point it was like, hey, do you wanna go talk to John Davison about, you know, maybe comin' over there, and Simon Whitcombe. Yeah, they've been around this space for years, it's totally different people, like yeah, of course. And there were other people that were interested, the company that ended up buying tested was like lightly interested but not in a way that sounded all that exciting to me. And so yeah, I had lunch with John and Simon and in, this would've been, it was around the holidays, I don't remember the exact year anymore, it all runs together, man. But it was the holidays, it was like right after Christmas, we went into Christmas break knowing that it was likely that the company was gonna be sold early the following year. And that the GameSpot team was interested, was kind of like what I went into the holidays knowing. And so I met with them and we just kinda talked it out and, you know, like they had a good head on their shoulders and we were, you know, fairly attractive I guess in the sense that we had our own revenue, it wasn't like we were coming in and like, okay, you gotta bolt us to a sales team, you gotta bolt us to this 'cause otherwise we're gonna be losing money overnight. We were coming in doing pretty well in the grand scheme of things. So yeah, I wasn't in all the negations and meetings and all the back and forth for that sorta stuff but, yeah, it was an exciting weird time because we knew it was happening but we couldn't say it was happening. And rumors started getting out there a little bit, it was a very strange time, you know. It was so hectic. My dad went into the hospital as we were packing up the office to get everything out, and we were entering this quiet period where we wouldn't even have an office and we couldn't even say why, which was so unlike everything we had done with our community and all this other stuff. It was like, here's the thing where we are forced to not talk about this deal or act like anything is weird but we also are not in an office, it's hard to generate content when you're not in the studio. And there was just so much going on around that time, it was really, it was bizarre. I came out of it feeling like we did pretty good. For someone who came into that situation with little more than his good name I feel like I came out of it better. Personally better, better at my job, better at more types of things, better at running a, a little bit more respect for what it takes to run a business but also knowing when to sacrifice the business needs for editorial interest, you know, that sorta stuff. I was able to grasp more pieces of the puzzle, I guess. And so yeah, we came back in and it was fun because I had set up Giancarlo Varanini, I set him up real good where I saw him at an event the week before the deal was getting announced and I think my exact words were, hey I'll see you next week. And we left this Microsoft event or whatever we were at and. - [Danny] Did he know, did he twig it or? - [Jeff] He didn't know at the time but he pieced it together and then he was like, oh my god, you were saying what you were saying, yeah. 'Cause, you know, we still talk to a lot of those people that were over there. - [Danny] So strange, I think I told you, we were in the bizarre situation where the UK, I was at GameSpot UK and the UK sales team had leaked the deal to us, I think maybe six weeks before it was announced. - Wow. - We all knew and we couldn't tell the American office about it. - [Jeff] That's GameSpot UK for you, man. One year they tried to give FIFA an 11. - [Danny]Did they actually? - [Jeff] Actually, yes. They turned in a FIFA review that was trying to give it an 11 out of 10. And we had to be like, no, you absolutely cannot under any circumstances do that. - [Danny] For most of Jeff's life his career and hobby have been impossible tangled. And so for much of his life his identity has been too. For years his Xbox Gamertag was GameSpotting. He only changed it when he set up his new site, to GiantBombing. But since selling to CBS he's tried to create more distance between these two worlds. Jeff isn't the most social person you'll work with. He commutes to and from Petaluma every day, a 40 mile drive during bay area rush hour. Perhaps it's why he doesn't socialize much after work. Or maybe it's a convenient excuse to not have to. At his desk, he sits with headphones on, usually working on something. When he talks to you he speaks openly and honestly. When he doesn't want to talk, he doesn't. He's always struck me as a person who's gears are always turning, thinking about the work. Half enjoying it, half burdened by the weight of it all. He's tried to get better at delegating responsibility but in many ways Giant Bomb is his child and he feels like he needs to be in the room when decisions about it are being made. - [Jeff] For me that's the struggle. Like my personal struggle is like the time management aspect of it and like keeping everything going. Because before I had other things going on in my life you could throw as much waking time as you could at a thing and also we owned the company. It was a sick cycle where in the back of your head you could always say like, well I need to work until three a.m. because this could be the video that puts us over the edge and turns this thing into an even bigger thing. And so it was very easy to justify to yourself incredibly unhealthy work habits that didn't make the site better, that didn't lead to necessarily more content or anything like that, it was just it was very easy to spend every waking moment thinking about it. And now I don't and at first that made me feel guilty, yeah, that's the weird struggle of just like, it's all just kind of a weird head trip. And the worrying goes from like, am I spending enough time with my family, am I spending enough time with my job, this seems like stuff that everyone else figured out a long time ago but I'm coming to it over the last few years and going like, man, this is an interesting new challenge. But it's been great, I wouldn't, if it wasn't for my wife I don't think I would, I'm not even sure if I would still be doing this, honestly. I probably would've completely burned out or something by now without her to kinda have my back and all that sorta stuff. Yeah, she's been great. She's the best thing that ever happened to me, totally. - [Danny] Trying to create a distance between life and work you're passionate about can often be a struggle. But it was impossible for the staff of Giant Bomb to do so in the summer of 2013. This July will mark the 6th year since the tragic passing of their friend and colleague Ryan Davis and in recent months it's been on Jeff's mind a lot more. Last year the site launched a 24 hour livestream that plays videos from throughout the 10 year archive of Giant Bomb and users often vote for videos that Ryan is featured in. So Jeff is confronted with the memory of their friendship a lot more these days. - [Jeff] You know, going back to those videos and stuff, the relationship that Ryan and I had was very complicated and changed a lot over the years because, you know, we were close friends, we were in a band, we were inseparable, I got him hired, we became coworkers, I became his boss. And so the relationship changed along the way too. So yeah, I don't know, when I think about Ryan I think about the days before were working together, primarily. Those are my Ryan memories, usually. The videos, the stuff we did along the way, yeah, we did some really cool shit and I like a lot of it just fine, but me personally, I think about the stuff prior to, when Ryan was answering phones for AT and T internet at three in the morning when people couldn't get into their email, that's the Ryan I think of. The Ryan that was living with three other guys in this tiny ass place and we'd just go hang out and he wasn't 21 yet so I was indispensable. Like that sort of stuff, that's the stuff I think about when I think about Ryan. - [Danny] When I asked Jeff about the future of Giant Bomb he's excited, but cautious. Years of working on the internet has taught him to be careful about over-promising before stuff is built. Perhaps his experiences have also taught him not to plan too far ahead. As the site enters its 11th year its been changing its programming to try and bring in new viewers. Giant Bomb has been successful, it pays its own way at CBS, but it's still a website owned by a large media organization, so often the future is planned quarter by quarter, year by year. Perhaps the most surprising thing in coming to know Jeff, is how excited he still is about games. His Twitter profile reads "I've been writing about "video games my entire life. "It would be insane to stop now." So you wouldn't blame him for being burned out on video games after 30 plus years of talking about them. But if nothing else, the thing that strikes me about Jeff Gerstmann is that these days when you can be so cynical about video games he's still a true believer in the power of the medium, whether it be players of Pac-Man or Fortnite. - [Jeff] I think games are only gonna continue to get more popular. If you look at what we're seeing with something like Fortnite right now. Like, it's having a moment that, that Minecraft had before it. It's huge, it's bigger than a Five Nights at Freddy's, it's crazy. But like I'm just trying to think about like, you know, games that have penetrated the mainstream in a huge way. What we're seeing with Fortnite right now feels almost unprecedented. It's Pac-Man esque. You know, like Minecraft was huge, but not in a, like kids loved Minecraft, kids love Roblox, but Fortnite is cut such a wide swathe across society to where it's like all these popular mainstream sports figures are now doing Fortnite dances in actual sports and it's never been like that before. So in some ways like, gaming has kind of never been cooler or less cool depending on your perspective. Because it's literally everywhere. You know, everyone is carrying around a device in their pocket that is capable of feats that like it would've been insane, no console 10 years ago could've done anything like this. Granted, the controls are still bad. The technology is pushed so far forward and it's so pervasive and in so many different places and in so many different styles. You look at like Pokemon Go and the idea of location based gaming, you know, people getting out there and moving around to catch Pokemon, like all that stuff is amazing and it's crazy. But like where we're going on that front, I think if the technology bears out and data caps don't kill the dream and all this other stuff, we're gonna reach a point where anyone can play top level video games on the device they carry around with them every single day. And in some cases they are, I mean, Fortnite's on phones for whatever that's worth. So I think that this isn't gonna go away, this is gaming's kind of big push into the mainstream kind of once and for all. And I think that games coverage, that's a more complicated thing. If you look at YouTube right now with demonetizing videos and everyone trying to stream and everyone trying to have a side hustle streaming or something like that. Kids growing up like commentating games as they're playing 'em because they just watch people on YouTube and they think that's how you're supposed to play games. That's it, that's where we're going, or that's where we are already. And so I think over the next five years it'll be tumultuous because I think you'll see the bottom drop out of ads in a way that makes the Twitch streaming and YouTube and like the kinda hobbyist turned pro streamer, I think that that's gonna have to even out. I think it's only gonna get harder and I think that will keep a lot of people out eventually, or it'll lead to a growth in just the hobbyist streaming and people will have different expectations. They'll just be like, I'm streaming 'cause I like it, I'm not gonna sit here and think I'm gonna make a bunch of money. The same way I made public access when I was 16, it's like, oh, we're on television. Like I'm not making any money off of it the way real people on TV do but I just wanna do it 'cause it's fun. - [Danny] Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Noclip Podcast. Sorry it took so long to get this one out, it was quite a long story and it's also kind of an impossible story to tell in its entirety so I had to pick my battles and figure out a narrative that kind of worked. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope it was nice piece to celebrate a website that means a lot to me and I'm sure a lot to you as well. Now for the housekeeping, if you wanna follow us on Twitter we are @Noclipvideo, I am @dannyodwyer, we have r/noclip if you're interested in getting on board and talking on Reddit and of course if you're a Patron keep up to date on all the Patreon posts. Podcasts are available on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, and loads of other places anywhere podcasts are sold basically. We also have a YouTube channel where you can watch the podcast. That's Youtube.com/Noclippodcast. If you didn't know, we also make documentaries about video games, those are available for free with no advertising at Youtube.com/noclipvideo. Patrons get this show early for 5$ a month, if you're interested in supporting our work please head over to Patreon.com/noclip. And that's the podcast for another episode. We are actually at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco right now recording bunches of interviews which will be going up on the channel in the next couple of weeks. But we'll be back with another podcast in the not too distant future so make sure you hit that subscribe. We've never actually asked people to rate it, so if you're listening now and you're still listening at the end of this podcast, hey, why not rate us? Thank you so much for listening, we'll see you next time.

Kevin Rose is someone I've known for quite a while. I think it was 11 years ago we first worked together when he was starting out as an intern. The promise I saw in him at that time has undoubtedly blossomed into an amazing set of skills, insights, and passions that have contributed to the world in truly meaningful ways. Kevin is a serial entrepreneur. He's best known for founding Digg and Revision3. He also serves on the True Ventures team with me and many others, funding startups that capture the imagination. These days, Kevin is no small player - he's been featured on the cover of Inc. Magazine, Bloomberg, Businessweek, RedHerring, and lots more. Since it had been a while between conversations, I invited Kevin on the show to talk about the future wave of exciting consumer apps, what it will take to see them come about AND the buzz that's happening around podcasting these days. The podcast industry has grown leaps and bounds in recent days and both of us are excited about the potential we see. Join me for this fun conversation with a good friend. Outline of This Episode [0:30] My introduction of Kevin Rose: entrepreneur and industry observer [1:51] The overview of Kevin's work - and why he's doing it [3:48] Motivations behind Kevin's focus on intentionality [7:27] Curiosity: a life-long trait that has compelled Kevin to action [13:55] How Kevin stays positive in light of the ups and downs of life and business [17:08] Things that need to happen in the consumer apps space [31:04] The buzz that's happening in the podcast industry: Kevin's insights and hopes Kevin's development of consumer apps is a personal thing Those of us who are into technology know that the consumer app space has had its ups and downs. Currently, in early 2019, we're in a bit of a lull. There are not many apps hitting the market that are truly innovative and game-changing, not like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and others were when they first appeared. Kevin became interested in apps like many developers do - because he was looking for solutions to his own needs. Way back in 2000 he made a personal commitment to improving his own health and in time, like the great entrepreneur he is, he was looking for ways to help others with the same goals he was pursuing. The most recent consumer apps he's created are personal health focused - a meditation app (Oak) and a fasting app (Zero). Oak has been so successful that he's recently passed it off to a full-blown team to oversee its ongoing development and customer interaction. As you can see, Kevin has a good deal of experience in the app marketplace, so his insights into where the app industry is and where it's going are valuable. I hope you take the time to listen. What needs to happen for another wave of great consumer apps to arrive? Kevin and I agree, the consumer app space feels to be in a bit of a doldrums right now. There are no apps that are rising above the crowd in innovative ways as we've seen in the past. For example, when Instagram came on the scene it took the app world by storm. The company grew exponentially very quickly. We simply don't see that happening these days. Kevin says much of it has to do with timing. He believes that if Instagram had been launched even two years earlier it wouldn't have gotten the reception it did. But he also feels there's a lack of innovative ideas behind app development these days. We both hope for a brighter future, one that brings app developers with vision and drive to the table to solve complicated and important problems. Big things are happening in the podcast industry Kevin and I enjoy podcasts. Obviously so, since we both publish podcasts. There's always something to learn and audio is a personal, non-obtrusive way to learn while doing other things. It's also a great way for everyone to have a voice, as Kevin points out in our conversation. Kevin believes the next major step in the podcast industry needs to be the development of a way in which relevant resources are parsed to podcast listeners AS they are listening, based on the content within the episode. With the advances in machine learning that are happening, it doesn't seem far away. Me? I agree with Kevin - and I also feel that there's still a discovery issue with podcasting that needs to be solved. There must be better ways to recommend content to listeners, help them find the topics and experts they are searching for, and do it all in a simpler, more graceful way. In both of these situations, there is a huge opportunity for a creative thinker who has the drive and insight to solve problems. And - in case you haven't noticed, the podcast industry just blew up - in a good way. Actually, that depends on who you talk to. Since the time Kevin and I recorded our conversation Spotify has announced its plans to purchase both Gimlet Media and Anchor (a podcasting app). Clearly, one of the biggest consumer app companies is diving into the podcast industry full steam ahead. Only time will tell what this means for podcasting, but it's clear that the leadership at Spotify believe that playing a larger role in podcasting is to their benefit. Resources & People Mentioned True Ventures Revision3 Oak meditation app Zero fasting app Affinity Photo Anchor podcasting app Alexa Connect with Kevin Rose Kevin's bio on the True Ventures website The Kevin Rose Show Kevin's Medium Page Kevin on LinkedIn Kevin on Twitter: @KevinRose Kevin on Instagram: @KevinRose Connect With Om www.Om.co Om on Twitter: @Om Om on Instagram: @Om Subscribe to THE OM SHOW on Apple Podcasts

Jim Louderback is the GM & SVP VidCon at Viacom, overseeing the world’s largest event series for online video creators, fans, and industry executives. Jim began his career in consulting and publishing, helping companies navigate the transformation to online media. In 2007, he became the CEO of Revision3, one of the first online video networks, which Discovery acquired in 2012. Since then, he spent his investing in and advising early stage companies before joining VidCon full time in 2017. We cover a lot of ground in this episode, from YouTube’s unique approach to community and monetization that differentiated it from other early video sites to the impact of an entire generation growing up on social media. Jim shares his take on TanaCon and the YouTube Rewind 2018 controversy, explains VidCon’s decision to go international, and describes his team’s focus on keeping the audience “front and center.” Finally, he offers his predictions for 2019: Pinterest will invest heavily in video, AR is due for a crash, Firework shows promise as a new video platform, and LinkedIn is a social juggernaut poised for additional growth. Host: James Creech ABOUT THE SHOW All Things Video is a podcast dedicated to uncovering the past and charting the future of the online video ecosystem. Listen to interviews with founders, executives, and thought leaders from the world’s leading media companies and engage in thought-provoking debates about the issues shaping the next generation of entertainment. From the short-form content revolution to the fragmentation of video viewership in an always-on world, All Things Video reveals the key trends and insights from the world of digital media. Follow All Things Video on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for new episodes and updates! ABOUT THE HOST James Creech is an entrepreneur focused on technology, online video, and digital media. He is the Co-Founder & CEO of Paladin, the essential influencer marketing platform for media companies, agencies, and brands. OUR SPONSOR This episode is brought to you by Epidemic Sound, the company reimagining music licensing for the digital age. Epidemic’s library contains tens of thousands of tracks that you can license a la carte or on a subscription basis. Unlike other music licensing companies, Epidemic Sound owns its entire catalogue and makes tracks available via one straightforward license to cover all your needs, worldwide and in perpetuity – no headaches around usage reporting, performance royalties, or murky rights ownership. It’s better for the artists and better for you, the creator! So whatever your music needs, Epidemic Sound has got you covered! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Matt Labate is the SVP Digital at Fine Brothers Entertainment, a next-gen media company and leader in digital programming. Matt started his career in independent film, then joined the Sony Pictures digital team. After a brief entrepreneurial stint, he joined Revision3 prior to its acquisition by Discovery, and then served as VP Creative at Reach Agency before making the move to FBE. In this episode, we discuss the “platform wars” and social media sites’ increasing feature homogenization as they compete for user attention. Matt shares FBE’s experience creating content for Facebook and their strategy for bringing platform intentionality into the production process. Finally, we examine the issue of creator burnout and question the long-term potential of linear programming for digital content. Host: James Creech ABOUT THE SHOW All Things Video is a podcast dedicated to uncovering the past and charting the future of the online video ecosystem. Listen to interviews with founders, executives, and thought leaders from the world’s leading video networks and engage in thought-provoking debates about the key issues shaping the next generation of entertainment. From the short-form content revolution to the rise of multi-channel networks (MCNs) and the fragmentation of video viewership in an always-on world, All Things Video reveals the key trends and insights from the world of digital video. Follow All Things Video on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for new episodes and updates! ABOUT THE HOST James Creech is an entrepreneur focused on technology, online video, and digital media. He is the Co-Founder & CEO of Paladin, the essential influencer marketing platform for media companies, agencies, and brands. OUR SPONSOR This episode is brought to you by Epidemic Sound, the company reimagining music licensing for the digital age. Epidemic’s library contains tens of thousands of tracks that you can license a la carte or on a subscription basis. Unlike other music licensing companies, Epidemic Sound owns its entire catalogue and makes tracks available via one straightforward license to cover all your needs, worldwide and in perpetuity – no headaches around usage reporting, performance royalties, or murky rights ownership. It’s better for the artists and better for you, the creator! So whatever your music needs, Epidemic Sound has got you covered! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

CLASSIC: It's Magic With special guest Brian Brushwood This is a classic episode originally aired on May 22nd, 2012 Special guest Brian Brushwood (the host of Scam School on Revision3) joins us to talk about his new book series "Scam School" and even teaches us a cool trick! Sir Jimmy, Nobot and Paul check out PotterMore.Com! Your Hosts: Paul Alves, Greg Otte, Sir Jimmy, NoBot Guests: Brian Brushwood Visit ScamSchoolBook to check out Brian Brushwood's multimedia book Check out The Scam School podcast! Published On May 22nd, 2012 Support Book Guys Show by donating to the tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/bookguys Find out more on the Book Guys Show website. Send us your feedback online: https://pinecast.com/feedback/bookguys/a3316582-c6e5-4990-ae50-d4b64fc70cf9 Check out our podcasting host, Pinecast. Start your own podcast for free, no credit card required, forever. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code bookguys for 40% off for 4 months, and support Book Guys Show.

IDCA’s first podcast episode is with Jay Adelson. Jay is a serial entrepreneur, having built companies such as Equinix, Digg, Revision3, SimpleGeo and Opsmatic. Jay currently serves as co-founder and General Partner of Center Electric, LLC, a venture firm he started with Andy Smith in 2014.

Rob Greenlee and Todd Cochrane talk with the CEO of VidCon Jim Louderback who has long been involved in the Video Media space including running the team at Revision3. We talk about Vidcon.com and of course a parent companies upcoming event Podcon that will be held in Seattle. You have heard me talk about proximity … Continue reading Jim Louderback – VidCon #187 → The post Jim Louderback – VidCon #187 appeared first on New Media Show.

What new products and technologies are going to take off? And which ideas are worth investing in? Kevin Rose is a serial entrepreneur and currently an investor with True Ventures. Kevin was an early investor in Twitter and Foursquare, and previously founded Digg.com along with other companies like Revision3, Milk, and North Technologies. We chat to Kevin about what ideas he's interested in, where he feels technology is heading, and why he won't be investing in VR.If you love Moonshot then the best way to help us is to share this episode with a friend, or if you're able, consider supporting us financially on Patreon. All supporters get an ad-free feed, along with bonus episodes, and merch. Visit https://www.patreon.com/moonshot.

Kevin Rose is a Venture Partner @ True Ventures, one of the leading early stage funds on the West Coast with portfolio companies including the likes of Automattic, Blue Bottle Coffee, About.me and recent unicorn, Peloton. As for Kevin, he is a serial entrepreneur best known for founding Digg and Revision3. Following such success in the field of operations, Kevin made the move into VC becoming a General Partner and advisor @ Google Ventures. Kevin has also been a prolific angel investor with a portfolio including the likes of Twitter, Square, Facebook, Foursquare, and Zynga just to name a few incredible companies.   In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Kevin made his way from founding Digg to moving into VC with Google Ventures? 2.) How did Kevin alter his investment mindset when making the transition from angel to General Partner @ Google Ventures? How does the decision making process change? How does asset allocation change? How does portfolio theory change? 3.) Why is Kevin so bullish on the future of mobile? Why does Kevin believe that distribution channels are actually becoming more equal, allowing for greater startup access? Why does Kevin not believe in the future of VR? 4.) How does Kevin view the optimal relationship between VC and founder? Can a VC be a friend as well as an advisor and board member? What can the VC do to ensure their positioning alongside not above the founder? 5.) How does Kevin view the age old debate of work like balance? How does Kevin approach it? What does Kevin recommend to anyone looking to improve their worl life balance? Items Mentioned In Today’s Show: Kevin’s Fave Book: Essentialism  Kevin’s Most Recent Investment: Lead.rs As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Kevin on Twitter here! Likewise, you can follow Harry on Snapchat here for mojito madness and all things 20VC. Zoom is the No 1 Video and WebConferencing Service, providing one consistent enterprise experience that allows you to engage in an array of activities including online meetings, video webinars, collaboration-enabled conference rooms and business instant messaging. Plus, it is the easiest solution to use, buy and scale with the most straightforward pricing. Do not take our word for it, Zoom’s their partnership with Sequoia in their latest 100m funding round says it all. Zoom is a must for your business. ViewedIt is a free video-recording tool that makes it easy for organizations to embrace the power of video for personalized communications. ViewedIt enables sales professionals, executive leaders and customer support teams to easily record personalized videos and add them to their email conversations. Plus, with built-in tracking powered by the Vidyard platform, video creators will know who is watching what, and which video messages resonate with viewers. They’ll receive immediate playback notifications that will eliminate the wondering of whether the recipient received or watched their content. Find out more and download ViewedIt for free at vidyard.com/viewedit.

https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/kevin Kevin Rose is a technology investor, podcaster, and self-experimenter. He has been named a "Top 25 Angel Investors", by Bloomberg and to the "Top 25 Most Influential People on the Web" list by Time magazine. You've might have also heard or seen him on Jimmy Fallon, Charlie Rose, or Kevin's own podcast "", which he co-hosts with Tim Ferriss. Kevin also serves on the advisory board of Google Ventures and the Tony Hawk Foundation. Previously, Kevin founded Digg, Revision3, and was a General Partner at Google Ventures. Perhaps most interesting for me and you, and not as well known to most folks, is that Kevin considers himself a well-versed body hacker, and he is frequently experimenting with things like cold water training, breathwork, nootropics, ketogenic diets, meditation, and fasting. Kevin even recently released a free app to help individuals track their fasting progress, which we discuss during this episode. During our fascinating discussion, you'll discover: -Why Kevin microdoses with lithium (and the surprising link between lithium and 7-Up soda)...[9:00] -The neuroscientist and mutual connection Kevin and I have that goes way back and is known as the "Summer Tomato"...[15:10] -The surprising boost you get from 100% chocolate and Kevin's new infatuation with "chocolate ceremonies"...[18:25] -Why Kevin gave up on ketosis and instead switched to a Katavan-style diet with purple potatoes...[24:25] -What Kevin does with the dozen giant bags of ice he buys each week...[36:15] -The crazy form of breathwork that made someone pass out in Ben's basement...[46:20] -Why, if you are going to fast, you should only eat as close to sunset as possible...[54:40] -How Kevin's friend sent his stage-4 cancer into remission with a simple dietary change...[63:00] -What Kevin discovered in an old teahouse in the heart of Japan (and what it has to do with elephants pooping coffee)...[68:10] -The #1 ingredient in cologne that makes women go absolutely crazy over a man's scent...[72:45] -An app/headphone combo that drives you straight into a state of deep relaxation within 10 minutes...[75:15] -And much more! Resources from this episode: - - - - - - -The book by Stephan Guyenet  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Do you have questions, thoughts or feedback for Kevin or me? Leave your comments at  and one of us will reply!

Evan Asano is the Founder and CEO of Mediakix, an influencer marketing agency that connects the world’s top brands with video creators and social media influencers. Evan got his start in digital media at BermanBraun and then worked in business development at Revision3, one of the earliest YouTube networks which Discovery Communications acquired in May 2012. In this episode, Evan explains the challenges that characterized the early days of online video, from low CPMs and difficulty moving audience off platform to learning which content formats performed well on YouTube. He also shares his perception of influencer marketing platforms and comments on Google’s recent acquisition of Famebit, saying there’s a place for both high-touch agency deals and programmatic activations. According to Evan, influencer marketing is here to stay because younger audiences aren’t watching TV and the growing popularity of ad blockers makes other online advertising less effective. Host: James Creech ABOUT THE SHOW All Things... --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

This month, we'll be uploading a new episode every day! We want to hear from you, so please send your questions and feedback to allthingsvideopodcast@gmail.com. You can also like and comment on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/allthingsvideo Follow All Things Video on LinkedIn for the latest episodes and updates! http://bit.ly/allthingsvideolinkedin This episode is the first in a four-part series about the history of MCNs. We examine precursors to the first multi-channel networks, specifically Next New Networks (acquired by YouTube) and Revision3 (acquired by Discovery). Host: James Creech ABOUT THE SHOW All Things Video is a podcast dedicated to uncovering the past and charting the future of the online video ecosystem. Listen to interviews with founders, executives, and thought leaders from the world’s leading video networks and engage in thought-provoking debates about the key issues shaping the next generation of entertainment. From the short-form content revolution to the rise of... --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Roy Bahat is the head of Bloomberg Beta, a new venture fund backed by Bloomberg L.P. Prior to Bloomberg, Roy was chairman of OUYA, a new kind of game console, where he was the first investor. Before that Roy spent five years leading News Corporation’s IGN Entertainment, an online media company with a monthly audience of 70 million people, a top 10 YouTube channel, and the leading website in its category in almost every market globally. Roy served on the board of Revision3 (acquired by Discovery) and was a board observer at Flixster (acquired by Warner Bros). Before joining News Corp., Roy was in the public sector in the office of New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and at New York’s 2012 Olympic bid.  In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Roy made his way into the world of VC from working alongside Mayor Michael Bloomberg? 2.) What do all these definitions within AI mean? What does artificial intelligence include? What is machine learning? What is deep learning? 3.) When we talk about AI are we talking pure AI , with the likes of Watson and DeepMind or are we talking consumer centric software with elements of AI? 4.) With data playing such a huge role in the efficiency of AI, do large incumbents like Google and Facebook not have a massive advantage? How can startups get access to datasets? Is AI not fundamentally an acquihire industry? 5.) How important has open source in allowing and encouraging the progression of the machine intelligence ecosystem? What more can be done to further it's growth? 6.) With the rise of machine intelligence, what does the future of work look like? How will we live in a world where 47% of white collar jobs will be replaced by machines and AI? Items Mentioned In Today's Episode: Roy's Fave Book: Watershed Down Roy's Fave Blog or Newsletter: Media ReDefined by Jason Hirschhorn, Asim Azar, the exponential view As always you can follow The Twenty Minute VC, Harry and Roy on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow him on Instagram here!   The Twenty Minute VC is brought to you by Leesa, the Warby Parker or TOMS shoes of the mattress industry. Lees have done away with the terrible mattress showroom buying experience by creating a luxury premium foam mattress that is order completely online and ships for free to your doorstep. The 10 inch mattress comes in all sizes and is engineered with 3 unique foam layers for a universal, adaptive feel, including 2 inches of memory foam and 2 inches of a really cool latex foam called Avena, design to keep you cool. All Leesa mattresses are 100% US or UK made and for every 10 mattresses they sell, they donate one to a shelter. Go to Leesa.com/VC and enter the promo code VC75 to get $75 off!  

Kevin Rose is an Internet entrepreneur who co-founded Revision3, Digg, Pownce, and Milk. He also served as production assistant and co-host at TechTV's The Screen Savers.

Kevin Rose is an Internet entrepreneur who co-founded Revision3, Digg, Pownce, and Milk. He also served as production assistant and co-host at TechTV's The Screen Savers.

This week we chat it up with, Jim Louderback, the Curator. Jim is a well-respected media executive and has his hands in some of the hottest growing areas in the media and entertainment space. He’s currently running partnerships for the online video creation platform Wochit and is also a venture partner at Social Starts, a seed investment firm. And when he’s not doing that, Jim curates the widely popular industry track at the ever-growing Vidcon, a multi-genre online video conference, as editorial director. If you haven’t heard about Vidcon, then you definitely need to tune in to this show to truly understand what a massive cultural force online video has become and how it’s launching careers and communities. Jim’s insights and understanding about the space will upon your mind to the business and economics that are following through this world right now. You’re going to be blown away by joining the Tech Cat and Jim Louderback, the Curator.

Jim Louderback stopped by The Influencer Economy this week. Jim a world-class CEO, and former Head of Revision3, a pioneering online video company. He currently runs the industry and track of VidCon, the 20,000 person online video geek conference in Anaheim, CA. Jim is an expert at the intersection of geek communities and business. He understands the culture of online geeks, and how to build companies and support business around people's passions and interests. Jim's Revision3 company was acquired by Discovery Networks in 2007, and Jim worked at Discovery prior to his time at VidCon. What we talked about: How VidCon connects the "virtual space" to the "meet space" where online communities can connect IRL (in real life) It's not about the fanbase anymore, but about the 'friendbase' How YouTube creators are the fulcrom for online communities, ut not necessary the focus How VidCon is as much about community members meeting other community members, as fans meeting the creators. How everyone on the internet has a home and there are people 'like them' around their geek passions How Revision3 built-out hugely popular geek communities online, and how Discovery acquired their network  Jim on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/jlouderb?lang=en  Jim's website: http://louderback.com/ VidCon:  http://vidcon.com/ Influencer Economy website: http://influencereconomy.com/  

Possibly Unsafe is back with a speaker upgrade! Turns out capacitor performance degrades over time… and as ESR (Equivalent Series Resistance) goes up, the highs go away. So this week we’re replacing the capacitors on a pair of vintage Klipsch speakers to restore the sound back to the original spec. It’s easy… and there’s a … Continue reading Replacing Vintage Speaker Capacitors

Brandon Cross gives a short introduction to Podcast Addict which is a podcast aggregator app for the Android operating system. He gives a brief overview of how easy it is to add a podcast via search engine. If you enjoyed this podcast and think this app might be something you will like, you can download it from the Google PlayStore. More from developer With Podcast Addict, manage all your audio & video Podcasts as well as your YouTube channels and RSS News feeds from your Android device. Subscribe to your favorite podcasts using the embedded networks (5by5, ABC, AfterBuzz TV, BBC, CNN, Carolla Digital, ESPN, FrogPants, LibriVox, Nerdist, NPR, Revision3, Smodcast, Ted Talks, Twit and Cool Blind Tech…). You can also import your podcasts subscriptions from an iTunes or Google Reader OPML file, or use the embedded search engine to browse Podcasts Addict (200K podcasts) or iTunes databases (250K podcasts). Finally you can also copy and paste your podcasts RSS feeds in order to subscribe. The app displays a small ad banner at the bottom of the screen. If you want to support Podcast Addict and/or disable the ad banner, you can buy Podcast Addict - Donate app Features: • Android Wear notifications & controls (Android 4.3+ only) • chromecast support • minimal permission requirement • manage Audio & Video podcasts, iTunes podcasts, Soundcloud url, Youtube Channels & RSS News feeds • standalone player (MP3, local files, streaming) • support both download & streaming • automatic update • automatic download • advanced automatic deletion features (trash...) • advanced Custom Settings per Podcast • automatic podcasts Flattr • podcast & episode search engine (use both Podcast Addict database & iTunes database) • audio & video player with resume, shuffle, loop, ... • variable playback speed, volume boost and skip silence (available for Android 4.1+) • audio & video playlist • customizable widgets • full app backup / restore • themes • lock screen widgets (Android 4.0+ only) • sleep timer • both list & grid mode display (podcasts & episodes) • authenticated feeds • virtual podcasts (handle a folder content as a podcast) • trending, new, TOP 250 most successful podcasts • Browse podcasts by category • OPML import (iTunes, Google Reader...) • OPML export • Full screen reading mode for RSS news feed • Podcasts suggestions • comments download feature • episode & podcast sharing • episode search engine • pebble support (player notifications) • support for Nova Launcher TeslaUnread plugin • support for Tasker, AutomateIT, ...

Brandon Cross gives a short introduction to Podcast Addict which is a podcast aggregator app for the Android operating system. He gives a brief overview of how easy it is to add a podcast via search engine. If you enjoyed this podcast and think this app might be something you will like, you can download it from the Google PlayStore. More from developer With Podcast Addict, manage all your audio & video Podcasts as well as your YouTube channels and RSS News feeds from your Android device. Subscribe to your favorite podcasts using the embedded networks (5by5, ABC, AfterBuzz TV, BBC, CNN, Carolla Digital, ESPN, FrogPants, LibriVox, Nerdist, NPR, Revision3, Smodcast, Ted Talks, Twit and Cool Blind Tech…). You can also import your podcasts subscriptions from an iTunes or Google Reader OPML file, or use the embedded search engine to browse Podcasts Addict (200K podcasts) or iTunes databases (250K podcasts). Finally you can also copy and paste your podcasts RSS feeds in order to subscribe. The app displays a small ad banner at the bottom of the screen. If you want to support Podcast Addict and/or disable the ad banner, you can buy Podcast Addict - Donate app Features: • Android Wear notifications & controls (Android 4.3+ only) • chromecast support • minimal permission requirement • manage Audio & Video podcasts, iTunes podcasts, Soundcloud url, Youtube Channels & RSS News feeds • standalone player (MP3, local files, streaming) • support both download & streaming • automatic update • automatic download • advanced automatic deletion features (trash...) • advanced Custom Settings per Podcast • automatic podcasts Flattr • podcast & episode search engine (use both Podcast Addict database & iTunes database) • audio & video player with resume, shuffle, loop, ... • variable playback speed, volume boost and skip silence (available for Android 4.1+) • audio & video playlist • customizable widgets • full app backup / restore • themes • lock screen widgets (Android 4.0+ only) • sleep timer • both list & grid mode display (podcasts & episodes) • authenticated feeds • virtual podcasts (handle a folder content as a podcast) • trending, new, TOP 250 most successful podcasts • Browse podcasts by category • OPML import (iTunes, Google Reader...) • OPML export • Full screen reading mode for RSS news feed • Podcasts suggestions • comments download feature • episode & podcast sharing • episode search engine • pebble support (player notifications) • support for Nova Launcher TeslaUnread plugin • support for Tasker, AutomateIT, ...

Brandon Cross gives a short introduction to Podcast Addict which is a podcast aggregator app for the Android operating system. He gives a brief overview of how easy it is to add a podcast via search engine. If you enjoyed this podcast and think this app might be something you will like, you can download it from the Google PlayStore. More from developer With Podcast Addict, manage all your audio & video Podcasts as well as your YouTube channels and RSS News feeds from your Android device. Subscribe to your favorite podcasts using the embedded networks (5by5, ABC, AfterBuzz TV, BBC, CNN, Carolla Digital, ESPN, FrogPants, LibriVox, Nerdist, NPR, Revision3, Smodcast, Ted Talks, Twit and Cool Blind Tech…). You can also import your podcasts subscriptions from an iTunes or Google Reader OPML file, or use the embedded search engine to browse Podcasts Addict (200K podcasts) or iTunes databases (250K podcasts). Finally you can also copy and paste your podcasts RSS feeds in order to subscribe. The app displays a small ad banner at the bottom of the screen. If you want to support Podcast Addict and/or disable the ad banner, you can buy Podcast Addict - Donate app Features: • Android Wear notifications & controls (Android 4.3+ only) • chromecast support • minimal permission requirement • manage Audio & Video podcasts, iTunes podcasts, Soundcloud url, Youtube Channels & RSS News feeds • standalone player (MP3, local files, streaming) • support both download & streaming • automatic update • automatic download • advanced automatic deletion features (trash...) • advanced Custom Settings per Podcast • automatic podcasts Flattr • podcast & episode search engine (use both Podcast Addict database & iTunes database) • audio & video player with resume, shuffle, loop, ... • variable playback speed, volume boost and skip silence (available for Android 4.1+) • audio & video playlist • customizable widgets • full app backup / restore • themes • lock screen widgets (Android 4.0+ only) • sleep timer • both list & grid mode display (podcasts & episodes) • authenticated feeds • virtual podcasts (handle a folder content as a podcast) • trending, new, TOP 250 most successful podcasts • Browse podcasts by category • OPML import (iTunes, Google Reader...) • OPML export • Full screen reading mode for RSS news feed • Podcasts suggestions • comments download feature • episode & podcast sharing • episode search engine • pebble support (player notifications) • support for Nova Launcher TeslaUnread plugin • support for Tasker, AutomateIT, ...

Welcome to the fifth episode of the official Crunchyroll Podcast, CrunchyCast! Each week, we'll be bringing you the hottest news and perspectives on the world of anime. Join hosts Evan and Victoria as they delve into the best programming the web has to offer, explore pressing questions, and interview the anime community and industry's most compelling personalities.   This week, CrunchyCast is joined by Nick Robinson, video producer at Polygon. Previously he was a host at Revision3 games, where he created the show Behind Anime Lines. You can find more from him on his Twitter.   Show Notes: Nick's abuzz about the news from Nintendo Direct! Evan contemplates the fall of the anime distributor Anime Sols Capcom's April Fools captivated all of our hosts Victoria's following the news of otaku idol Shokotan, who will play Diana in Sailor Moon Crystal Evan counts the days until Ninja Slayer airs Victoria's wait is over for Food Wars! Evan's enjoying early Miyakaki in Sherlock Hound Nick's finishing up Parasyte and Death Parade   You can find more episodes of CrunchyCast on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, and our Libsyn page.   CrunchyCast is hosted by Victoria Holden and Evan Minto and produced by Miles Thomas and the Crunchyroll Brand team. If you have any questions for our hosts, you can reach us at CrunchyCast@crunchyroll.com, or on Twitter at @SailorBee and @VamptVo respectively.   All music in CrunchyCast is produced by Noah Hafford, who can be found at his SoundCloud.

The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 19 with Online Video Host & Producer Shannon Morse Shannon Morse (@Snubs)  is a producer and host of several online video shows such as Tekzilla and Hak5. Following early training in theatrical performance and hotel/restaurant management, she transitioned into new media. Across her many projects, she's responsible for all research, writing, and production. Read more about Shannon on her site, snubsie.com In this episode, we discuss Shannon's origins in film/video production, the struggle of working for multiple employers with multiple studio workflows, and some of her outside (geeky) pursuits.         00:00   00:00         Show Notes & Links Tekzilla Hak5 TWiT Network, Before You Buy, Coding 101 Shannon worked at Domino's Pizza Producer duties include “making sure everyone is having a good day.” “The Producer Mentality”, not always a great thing Sheryl Sandberg and her problem with the word “bossy” “I don't like anything built on a base layer of chaos.” Shannon has a background in theatre and choir, rather than tv/media production “How the sausage gets made” aka “The recipe” for podcasting Ham Radio Prescott is obsessed with DIY Network and HGTV National Weather Service Garage/Hacker Mentality Shannon's dad was a nerd and early computer guy Star Trek X-Files Previous episode with Ashley Milne-Tyte BBC Radio 4 When Gmail is down The Slash Generation En-tre-pren-eur, hard for Shannon to pronounce Shannon is obsessed with Anime Sailor Moon Shannon is a coupon maven, who recently donated a cache of grooming products Hoarding, a pathology that might affect Prescott's parents Zombie Apocalypse planning Prescott created a “Lucifer's Hammer” wish list on Amazon Lucifer's Hammer by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven Hurricane Sandy LED Candle 1Password episode of Mac Power Users On a call with the cable company Weddings are hard, even for producers Tools Google Apps Slate board Google Hangouts, for remote conversations Trello HTML format UpWrite Desk Keepass Lastpass 1Password for Mac and iOS info.xhead (RIP) from xhead software Wallet (RIP) after their founders were acqui-hired by Facebook Techniques Divide duties and responsibilities to prevent overlap, chaos Write as if you're speaking it. Practice until you get it. Record multiple takes into multiple cameras. Know yourself, and what type of employment best suits you. Habits Keep the editors in mind when shooting video. Think of other people when you're working. Make annotations and notes, even if they're only for yourself Record all your passwords and other info in a password manager; back up the data file to an external drive (don't trust the cloud only) Use 2-factor authentication for all your sites Wake up at a consistent time every morning Always have cereal! Dedicate certain days to specific aspects of your business, eg. recording day, editing day

This week, we look into a scandal involving Scott Thompson, Yahoo's CEO,  wherein he allegedly lied on his resume about having a CS degree. Later, we'll poke into a couple of exciting rumors of Apple lowering the price of their Macbook Air to $799, plus their upcoming HDTV offering. But first, the headlines...Facebook sets its IPO price, Discovery buys Revision3, Draw Something loses 5M users/Mo. after Zynga purchase, AT&T CEO regrets offering unlimited data, Google loses copyright infringement case to Oracle over Java, Google's Hangouts on Air rolls out to everyone, & Google's Autonomous cars get an official nod from Nevada. Headlines Facebook Sets $28-$35 IPO Range Discovery Buys Revision3 for $30 Million Draw Something Loses 5M Users a Month After Zynga Purchase AT&T Chief Regrets Offering Unlimited Data for iPhone Google liable for copyright infringement, jury finds Google makes Hangouts On Air available to everyone Google gets license to test drive autonomous cars on Nevada roads Audible Book of the Week I Am a Pole (And So Can You!) by  Stephen Colbert Musical Interlude #1 Hot Topic: Résumé-Gate Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson Resume Scandal They Shoot Yahoo CEOs, Don't They? CEO Says Sorry to Yahoos for Borked Bio "Distraction" Yahoo Director in Charge of Botched CEO Vetting to Step Down Musical Interlude #2 Final Word: Apple Rumors Apple reportedly to release US$799 MacBook Air in 3Q12 Our Source Has Seen The Apple HDTV, Here's What It Looks Like The Drill Down on iTunes (Subscribe now!) Sign up here to be alerted by SMS when the podcast is live! Geeks Of Doom's The Drill Down is a roundtable-style audio podcast where we discuss the most important issues of the week, in tech and on the web and how they affect us all. Hosts are Geeks of Doom contributor Andrew Sorcini (Mr. BabyMan), VentureBeat editor Devindra Hardawar, marketing research analyst Dwayne De Freitas, and Startup Digest CTO Christopher Burnor. Occasionally joining them is Techmeme editor Lidija Davis.  

Revision3 is Discovered, resume fudge, Note hotcakes, OMG pops, tapping Skype, email stress, FPSTD, and more. Host: Leo Laporte Guests: John C. Dvorak, Brian Brushwood, and Mike Elgan Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech. For additional show notes, visit the wiki page for this episode. Links to stories we covered (and then some) are available from Delicious or in our Friendfeed Room.

Revision3 is Discovered, resume fudge, Note hotcakes, OMG pops, tapping Skype, email stress, FPSTD, and more. Host: Leo Laporte Guests: John C. Dvorak, Brian Brushwood, and Mike Elgan Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech. For additional show notes, visit the wiki page for this episode. Links to stories we covered (and then some) are available from Delicious or in our Friendfeed Room.

Bizarre magician Brian Brushwood, host of Scam School on Revision3 and NSFW Show on TWiT, sat down with AnimeCons TV at PortConMaine 2011 to talk about cons...but not the type of cons he's usually known for. This is the entire interview, part of which was seen in the July 2011 episode of AnimeCons TV.

Bizarre magician Brian Brushwood, host of Scam School on Revision3 and NSFW Show on TWiT, sat down with AnimeCons TV at PortConMaine 2011 to talk about cons...but not the type of cons he's usually known for. This is the entire interview, part of which was seen in the July 2011 episode of AnimeCons TV.

As the leading television network for the Internet generation, Revision3 is truly the epitome of a media company that is both a product and servant of the culture of the Web.

We discuss the JV's World controversy and manage to piss of everyone.