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Podcast: Channels with Peter Kafka
Episode: How to Build a Profitable Media Company in 3 years, with Semafor’s Justin Smith
Description: News is a tough business. So how did Semafor, the news startup founded by Ben Smith and Justin Smith, figure out how to turn a profit in their third year of business?
Excellent journalism certainly helps. But it’s really because the company made two key decisions: Focusing on events — and focusing on events in Washington, D.C., where companies will pay a lot of money to reach a relatively small crowd of influential people.
There’s more to it than that, as Semafor’s CEOJustin Smith explains to me in our conversation. But it’s not a co...