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BFD Expert Voices - Media Deals

BFD Expert Voices

The future of Medium, the publishing platform popular among startup founders and Barack Obama, is murky as co-founder Ev Williams steps down as CEO after 10 years at the helm, Kerry writes. 

Why it matters: Medium has raised millions in VC funding to change publishing and made two interesting acquisitions in audio and ebooks last year. It's unclear if the company can sustain ⁠— let alone thrive ⁠— amid increased competition.

Driving the news: Williams announced his decision to depart as CEO and become board chairman in a Medium post yesterday. 

"To be clear, Medium's story is far from over. The team today is probably the most capable I've seen at this company," Williams wrote.

Tony Stubblebine, who worked at Williams' earlier startup Odeo, will take over as CEO. He is CEO of the online coaching company Coach.me as well as an active publisher on Medium. 

By the numbers: Medium had 179 employees in June 2021, according to a TechCrunch report about staff departures at the time. It's now at 111 employees, per a Medium spokesperson.

Medium's last funding round was $31 million in November 2021 at an unknown valuation. 

In 2016, it raised a $50 million Series C, reportedly at a $600 million valuation. Its total funding is $163 million. 

Catch up quick: Medium acquired Glose, a Paris-based ebooks platform last year. As Williams told me then, he saw adding books as a way to encourage more writing and reading within Medium. 

It also bought audio learning platform Knowable, expanding into yet another medium of storytelling. 

💭 Kerry's thought bubble: Medium's minimalistic design and social sharing tools made it a desirable place to write. But its inability to focus seemed to allow competitors like Substack to supplant it.

What they're saying: Platformer's Casey Newton noted that Medium is stuck in a category that falls between higher-end publishers like BuzzFeed and lower-end platforms like Substack. "In such a world, Medium had no obvious advantage," he wrote. 

Substack, meanwhile, has raised a little more than half as much as Medium. Its team now has fewer than 80 employees after layoffs last month. 

What's next: "I'm joining Medium because I want to improve our publishing tools and increase the quality of our subscription. That's my main job," Stubblebine wrote. 

1 big thing: Sizing up Medium 

Ev Williams. Photo: Pedro Fiúza/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The move by experiential entertainment company Falcon's Beyond to go public via a SPAC shows that, for certain sectors and sub-sectors, this listing vehicle is still on the table.

Why it's the BFD: The SPAC market has gone from feast to famine over the first half of 2022. ECM bankers and lawyers, not to mention executives and their investors, will watch the Falcon's process closely for signs of life in the otherwise moribund SPAC channel. 

Zoom in: The Orlando-based company plans to list via a merger with Fast Acquisition Corp II, the SPAC backed by Ruby Tuesday's founder Sandy Beall, Tim writes.

Fast II is backed primarily by those in the hospitality space, and counts NFL star Ndamukong Suh as an adviser.

Catch up quick: Falcon's Beyond has helped to plan and develop more than $100 billion worth of development projects, entertainment experiences and experiential technology. 

Clients include Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, Atlantis, Marvel, National Geographic, NASA, AT&T, Lego, Hard Rock, Formula One, Lionsgate, Cartoon Network and Microsoft.

In November, it announced a joint venture with Meliá Hotels to build a theme park in Punta Cana that will use characters from "CoComelon." The company is also developing a theme park in Saudi Arabia near its capital, Riyadh, with Qiddiya Investment Co.

2. The BFD: Spreading SPAC wings in a storm

Data: Axios research; Chart: Thomas Oide/Axios

If a company's name is on a "Big Four" sports stadium, that company is likely part of these "Big Three" industries: financial services, insurance or telecom, Axios Sports' Jeff Tracy writes.

Driving the news: Heinz Field, home of the Steelers, is now Acrisure Stadium after the Michigan-based insurance firm bought the naming rights, the team announced Monday.

3. Charted: Goodbye Heinz, hello Acrisure!

Unity Software (NYSE: U), an SF-based interactive gaming engine, agreed to buy Israeli app monetization company IronSource (NYSE: IS) for around $4b in stock. Existing Unity shareholders Silver Lake and Sequoia will buy a combined $1b of Unity convertible notes at merger close, Dan Primack writes. http://axios.link/Tp1N

Animoca Brands, a Hong Kong-based NFT and metaverse investor, raised $75m at a valuation of $5.9b. Liberty City Ventures, Kingsway Capital, Alpha Wave Ventures, 10T, SG Spring Limited Partnership Fund, Generation Highway and Cosmic Summit Investments Limited participated. http://axios.link/PBRM

Kontent, a Czech Republic-based headless CMS platform, raised $40m from Expedition Growth Capital. http://axios.link/wwTV

Cellnex Telecom (Madrid: CLNX) pulled its bid for Deutsche Telekom's (DE: DTE) towers unit, making it likely that KKR will win a deal estimated to be valued at around €18b. http://axios.link/WUxJ

IK Partners agreed to buy a majority stake in Dutch tech consultancy IG&H. http://axios.link/NPeD

Viaplay, a Nordic streamer, is in talks to buy British sports broadcaster Premier Sports, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/Y5sT 

4. Deal flow

Ben Stephenson is leaving as head of Bad Robot TV to launch a new scripted label within ITV Studios. http://axios.link/4Imq

Nick Sallon, Twitter's global head of longform partnerships, is leaving for Bloomberg to be its first chief partnerships officer. http://axios.link/laHl

BBC Television hired Kalpna Patel-Knight for a new head of entertainment commissioning role. http://axios.link/q34J

Channel 4 appointed Marcia Williams as its first director of inclusion. http://axios.link/uBzz

Former WarnerMedia EVP Will Funk will lead a new sports division for talent management firm Range Media Partners. http://axios.link/NSIP 

5. Movin' on up (or out)

"Twitter is asking the court for an expedited trial in September, so that the two parties don't bump into the drop-dead closing date of Oct. 24," Primack writes.

Why film producers are so excited about the metaverse: 'Everybody's dream can come true' (TheWrap)

"Making movies in the metaverse isn't about creating a VR landscape that looks like a video game. And it goes beyond selling NFTs or finding new ways to crowdfund indie movies," Brian Welk writes.

Netflix seeks to renegotiate deals to show ads next to popular shows (WSJ)

"Studios likely will seek a premium of 15% to 30% over existing contracts to grant Netflix the right to put their content on an ad-supported platform, some entertainment executives" told Joe Flint.

Facebook faces a reckoning as advertisers slash spending and abandon the platform for the first time ever (Insider)

"There are a lot of other headwinds going against Meta — aging older, TikTok being much more successful right now, the iOS privacy changes hurting their ability to prove attribution," said a top ad buyer.

6. Channel surfing

Illustration of a pair of sunglasses with lenses that look like tv screens.

An ice cream truck parked near my apartment encouraged people to "Eat The Rich." So I did, Kerry writes. 

For $10, you could consume Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Ma, Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk. Given all the Twitter drama, I chose Elon. His hair was delicious. 

The stunt was created by MSCHF, the team behind Jesus Shoes, Satan Shoes and other non-sneaker-related products.  

1 melty thing: Elon ice pop

Kerry Flynn in front of the "Eat The Rich" ice cream truck on July 12, 2022 in Brooklyn, New York.

Kerry Flynn holding an Elon Musk frozen treat. Photo: Mike Murphy

🎥 Situational awareness: You might soon see more of Pennsylvania on the big screen as the state's film industry gets a $30 million boost, Axios Philadelphia's Alexa Mencia writes.

@tim_bays: United's Inflight Entertainment. I'm just glad I'll finally remember to bring my own headphones for this four-hour flight to Chicago. 

@kerrymflynn: "Paradise Square" at Barrymore Theatre. Snagged last-minute tickets to see this show since it's unexpectedly closing this week. 

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July 13, 2022

1 big thing: Sizing up Medium