Deez Interviews: Meet the business school grad & new Facebook hire thinking about industry change, membership models, and that magical 20%

Happy Friday, Deezers! This week’s interview is with Michael Mellody, a total biz wiz in the industry who you should all be keeping an eye on.

Michael was my first manager and mentor out of college: He got me into nerding out about the business of media, and he’s the one who first got me into newsletters....so he’s basically the Deez Links godfather. This week, we got the chance to catch up on what he’s been doing since moving out to Silicon Valley, and what’s next!

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The interviewee: Michael Mellody (follow him @michael_mellody)

Recent rezzie highlights: Cofounder of 730DC, chief of staff & director of audience & data at Atlantic Media, recent grad from Stanford GSB

You just graduated from Stanford business school, where you've been studying the business of media. Congrats! Tell us about your studies!

I focused primarily on two areas. The first was the intersection of journalism and product — how organizations are integrating editorial and product teams to create holistic digital experiences for readers. I explored this question from both the publisher and platform sides, trying to get a better handle on different approaches to the challenge. The organizations doing it best have created structures and culture to empower product teams to work as equals with editors and journalists.

The second was focused on critical but underserved areas in news: investigative and local journalism. There aren't easy answers in either area, but many promising ventures (both profit and not-for-profit) are doing great work. There also seems to be an increasing and encouraging willingness to pay — whether through membership, subscription, or donation —for this journalism.

More on business school: do you recommend it for youngsters in media who want to help shape the industry?

As always, it depends. I enrolled in business school because I believed the core challenge facing media companies today is a business challenge. If we could only come up with more creative business models, we'll create a better future for media.

While there's some truth in this perspective, I think it misses the root cause. I'm now a believer that real change in the industry will come from innovations in storytelling and technology. These changes will then drive business model changes — not the other way around.

So that's a roundabout way of saying business knowledge is useful, but the people who will inflect the most meaningful change in media over the next 5, 10 years will do so primarily through technology and editorial, not business.

So, I would apply to business school if you plan to use the time to deepen your understanding of how technology and media will interact. I wouldn't apply if you're primarily hoping to better understand business fundamentals like strategy, finance, and marketing.

You've handled the business side of media publications at all kinds of scales — from co-founding 730DC, a DC media startup, to managing longterm strategy at Atlantic Media. What were the biggest lessons you learned from starting something "small" vs. running something more corporate-y and large scale?

When you're starting something small, you have to find the 20% of stuff that drives 80% of the value and then focus all your time there. This is super fun because that 20% is by definition the most impactful and exciting. At 730DC, this meant spending almost all my time on creating a great daily newsletter that people loved.

When you're at a large organization, you still want to figure out what this 20% is. It won't be as obvious, but try to identify the few things across the organization that drive the most impact. Then do your best to get on these projects and bring to them the same creativity and drive you would to your own startup.

Let’s talk about your teaching experience — these days, a lot of college grads are jumping into the workforce through Teach For America (even BuzzFeed founder Jonah Peretti started out as a teacher). You taught 9th grade algebra yourself for two years.

Are there unique advantages, do you think, to having a background in education when entering the media world?

For me, teaching helped reinforce two lessons. The first was the real impact that ideas and knowledge can have on people. Working in media (especially on the business side), it's easy to feel disconnected from the impact of your organization's journalism.

But as a teacher, you're working face-to-face with students every day, and the impact of stories and new ideas is very real. The moments when you realize this impact can be few and far between but, when they come, they're very tangible. These memories from teaching remind me to find ways of engaging directly with users to understand their needs and stay energized.

The second is the importance of culture. In an organization with hundreds or thousands of people, bad culture often causes a slow death as top talent leaves and performance lags. In a classroom full of thirty kids, the effects of bad culture are immediate and relentless. If students don't feel supported and empowered, teaching algebra becomes almost impossible.

What excites you most about what's happening in media today?

One publication I've been following is The Correspondent. They were founded in the Netherlands a few years back and are planning to launch a US-based English version soon.

They're pioneering a membership model where their audience plays an integral role in their journalism, providing everything from story ideas to "contributions" (their term for comments) to monetary support. It's a grand experiment, and I'm optimistic they can pull it off.

Finally, what's next for you??

I'm joining Facebook on their News Publishing team to help the company support an ecosystem where high-quality news and information can thrive. The last two years have been incredible, and I'm excited to apply what I've learned back in the real world.

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Have a great weekend, Deezers!

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