Rapid Response: Lessons from the demise of BuzzFeed News, w/CEO Jonah Peretti
Masters of Scale
WaitWhat
4.6 • 4.4K Ratings
🗓️ 4 May 2023
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Rapid Response with Bob Safian: If the most prestigious aspect of your business isn’t paying dividends, should you leave it in the past? BuzzFeed’s co-founder and CEO, Jonah Peretti discusses the surprising decision to shutter the Pulitzer Prize-winning BuzzFeed News, and how the company seeks to re-anchor toward the bright future of media. In his third appearance on Rapid Response, Peretti shares lessons about redefining the tool of social media, leading a private versus public business, and how to tune-out the external noise.
Read a transcript of this episode: https://mastersofscale.com/
Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hi listeners, it's Chris Goethea, producer on Masters of Scale. |
| 0:03.2 | Quickly dropping in with an invitation for you to join us at an upcoming strategy session with Reed, |
| 0:07.9 | along with a few very special guests. During this live virtual event, you'll hear some game-changing |
| 0:14.0 | wisdom and insights that will help you make smart and financial decisions for your business. |
| 0:18.4 | So take a second to save the data in your calendar for Monday, May 8th at 3.30pm Pacific, |
| 0:23.2 | and register at mastersofscale.com forward slash strategy session to receive your link to join. |
| 0:29.6 | We'll be tackling some of the most top of mind questions for entrepreneurs, |
| 0:32.8 | with a special focus on how your business can thrive even amidst an economic downturn. |
| 0:38.0 | It's a really important topic, and you'll hear timely strategic insights that will help set you |
| 0:42.8 | and your business up for success. So go to mastersofscale.com forward slash strategy session to |
| 0:49.2 | register for free. Now on to the show. |
| 0:53.1 | I'm very proud of the work that BuzzFeed News did. One thing I've noticed in business is when |
| 1:02.1 | something is happening and people start talking about it nostalgicly, even in the present, |
| 1:08.6 | that you probably should be focusing on what's coming next in the future. |
| 1:15.2 | That metaphor of surfing a wave, if there's a good wave, you got a good shot if you can ride it. |
| 1:22.1 | And sometimes surfers get smashed by the waves, but I would rather be in a place where there's |
| 1:28.9 | some really nice big waves than to be just sitting out there with nothing to ride. |
| 1:40.1 | That's Jonah Peretti, CEO of BuzzFeed, the digital content company that encompasses brands |
| 1:45.7 | from Huffpost to Tasty to Complex. Jonah recently announced a big round of layoffs, |
| 1:51.6 | including the shutting down of BuzzFeed News, which was recognized with a Pulitzer prize just |
| 1:56.5 | two years ago. I'm Bob Safian, former editor of Fast Company, founder of the Flux Group and |
| 2:02.2 | Host of Masters of Scale Rapid Response. Jonah's appeared on this show twice before, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from WaitWhat, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of WaitWhat and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.