Axios HQ turns profit on $20M in revenue
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Axios co-founders Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen and Roy Schwartz. Photo: Noah Willman
Axios HQ, the tech arm spun out from Axios Media in 2022, is now profitable and driving $20 million in annualized revenue, following a series of strategic moves to simplify its business, CEO Roy Schwartz tells Axios in an interview.
Why it matters: Launched in 2021, Axios HQ faced an existential threat with the rise of generative AI. Schwartz credits simplifying the company's structure with helping position the brand for growth.
- "We were very aware of what AI can suddenly make obsolete, so we started pivoting," he says.
Zoom out: Axios HQ's pivot is the byproduct of a strategy championed by Axios Media's co-founders, Schwartz, Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen, around radically simplifying one's goals and operations to achieve more success.
- The trio on Tuesday published their second co-written book, titled "Simplify: Do 50% More With 50% Less," about the idea.
- In an interview, VandeHei says corporate leaders recognize they need "some kind of operating manual to deal with what feels like life and emotional paralysis" in the AI era.
Catch up quick: Schwartz co-founded Axios HQ alongside VandeHei and Allen as a software services firm, licensing tech to corporations to streamline internal and external communications using Axios' signature Smart Brevity writing style.
- When Axios Media sold to Cox Communications four years ago, Axios HQ was spun out as a separate business.
- It raised $20 million the following year, with plans to expand its AI-driven communications software.
State of play: Initially, HQ was mostly focused on selling software, but now services is the company's fastest-growing business line, Schwartz says.
- Revenue is almost equally split between the two offerings.
- Axios HQ is divided into three independent business units, each with one distinct goal that the teams can move faster toward.
- Those units include Axios HQ, a software arm; Mixing Board, a membership organization for communications professionals it acquired in 2024; and Smart Brevity, a services business. Smart Brevity includes trainings that help companies "simplify" their businesses.
Between the lines: To become profitable and grow sustainably, Axios HQ simplified its structure, Schwartz says.
- The company today employs around 45 people, down from 120 at its peak, and is much more profitable. Schwartz projects margins of roughly 20%–25% this year.
- Axios Media has similarly simplified its business, VandeHei says, noting moves to cut its subscription policy offering and certain editorial verticals, such as sports.
The big picture: The rise of AI has forced companies to confront pain points in their structures and supply chains in order to stay competitive.
- The book "Simplify" is intended to help companies by providing a common language, framework and playbook for their initiatives, Schwartz says.
Editor's note: This story was corrected to reflect Roy Schwartz said the book "Simplify" (not changes to Axios HQ) would help companies by providing them with a common language, framework and playbook.
