media-startup
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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.
Haley Rosen
Haley Rosen is the founder and CEO of Just Women's Sports, the digital media company she launched in January 2020 to fix a number that had not budged in a decade: roughly 4% of all sports coverage went to women. A former Stanford midfielder who played professionally before injuries ended her career, Rosen built JWS from a single Instagram account into a leading women's sports media platform with podcasts, editorial, live programming, events, and merchandise, backed by investors including Kevin Durant and Joe Tsai. Her core argument, delivered on the TEDxBoston stage, is blunt: stop treating women's sports like a charity and start covering them like sports.
Sarah Personette
Sarah Personette is the CEO of Puck, the journalist-owned media company often described as 'Vanity Fair for the Substack era.' She took the top job in January 2024 after a career spent on the revenue side of media's biggest platforms - head of ad sales and Chief Customer Officer at Twitter through its 2022 sale, VP of global business marketing at Facebook, COO of Refinery29, and U.S. president of Universal McCann. At Puck she is betting that journalists are the original influencers, fusing the financial incentives of the creator economy with old-school reporting rigor, and pushing the company toward profitability while expanding into fashion, sports, and live events.
Puck
Puck is a New York-based digital media company founded in 2021 that covers the four centers of American power - Silicon Valley, Hollywood, Washington, and Wall Street. It treats journalists like founders, giving its writers equity and a cut of the subscription revenue their newsletters generate, and reaches readers through email newsletters, podcasts, and live events.