Why a top Axios investor will 'take its focus off' media
Future News 61
The big news out of VC land the other day was that Greycroft had raised $680m to invest in early and growth stage start-ups across two new funds. The New York and LA-based investor has backed the likes of Axios, Bird and Bumble, which is reportedly planning a 2021 IPO, in the past.
Greycroft co-founder and partner Dana Settle, however, told Bloomberg that media assets, such as past investee Huffington Post (Greycroft exited in 2011 and Verizon now owns the business), will be ‘less of a focus’ for the firm going forward.
Greycroft is instead looking for businesses with subscription-backed models in retail-related businesses. FN reached out to Greycroft for comment and is waiting to hear from the VC.
The announcement should focus the minds of budding news media entrepreneurs – investors and the capital markets love subscription models because of the visible recurring revenues they generate. It’s very much a trend that is here to stay. Although, as FN has warned before, a vast majority of consumers will only go for one news media subscription.
Here’s an old school video of Settle in case you wanted to learn more about her and Greycroft.
🗳️ Election 2020
The next Presidential debate was going to be a virtual ‘town meeting’ hosted by C-SPAN’s Steve Scully in Miami. Donald Trump, however, has said he doesn’t want to take part in the event, something his long-time advisor Roger Stone urged him to do in The Spectator a day before the President’s announcement on Fox Business. FN reached out to the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) for comment and to see whether Trump’s campaign team agreed to the virtual debate before it issued this press release, which you now can’t see on the ‘news’ section of the CPD website.
💼 Jobs and business
Politico’s latest offering in the UK, London Influence, launched yesterday. The public affairs-focused newsletter will be overseen by Matt Honeycombe-Foster, who tells FN that he will be “badgering think tanks/agencies a LOT” on Thursday, with a “big chunk” of the writing on his Sundays. He also praised the “team effort” at Politico and said they’re willing to try “new stuff and adjust” as the email lands and the feedback comes in.
Former ITV News and Newsnight correspondent Allegra Stratton is the UK’s first on-camera Downing Street Press Secretary.
Brexiteer Sir Robbie Gibb is now the frontrunner to become the next chair of the BBC.
Entrepreneur Tom Ilube has become a Non-Executive Director at WPP.
🎧 Podcasts
The City View: Alastair Stewart on the future of broadcast media.
Exponent: Ben Thompson on bundles.
🤖 Technology
It costs a lot to do AI research and that is creating inequality in the field.
The ‘10 principles’ of Microsoft’s app store.
📧 Contact
For high-praise, tips or gripes, please contact the editor at iansilvera@gmail.com or via @ianjsilvera.
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