entertainment-industry
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Initial Group and the Strange Advantage of Starting in the Middle
Most rollups begin with a spreadsheet. Initial Group began with a 25-year-old talent firm, then added the missing pieces around it - literary muscle, digital plumbing and music reach - without asking every company to wear the same name tag.
Horowitz Agency and the art of getting the right phone call
For the lawyers and advisers behind the deal, fame is a peculiar ambition. Horowitz Agency has built a business around a more useful one: being known by the people who might actually hire you.
The Ankler
The Ankler (Ankler Media) is an independent, subscription-driven media company covering the business of Hollywood and the collision of entertainment, media and technology. Founded as a one-man newsletter by Richard Rushfield in 2017 and expanded into a full media company with former Hollywood Reporter/Billboard chief Janice Min as CEO in 2022, it has grown into a multi-platform operation of roughly 15 newsletters, podcasts, video and live events - read by studio chiefs and moguls it covers, raised $1.5M at a $20M valuation via Y Combinator, and reportedly aiming for $10M in annual revenue in 2026.