1. Background
Education: Master of Science, MIT Media Lab
College: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Previous Career: Co-Founded The Huffington Post, and left after it was taken over by AOL.
2. Origin Story
The Spark
Buzzfeed initially started as an 'Internet popularity contest' site in 2005. Jonah Peretti created the site in the aftermath of an email exchange thread between himself and Nike going viral globally. At the time, Peretti was working as the R&D Director of Eyebeam - another site which was run by his now Co-Founder, John Johnson.
'Buzzfeed'
Jonah Peretti wanted to turn what they had learned about manufacturing virality in online media into a business, and soon enough, he convinced his boss Johnson to set up Buzzfeed together. While originally known for its mix of internet memes and lists, the site took off after it was the first to break the news about John McCain endorsing Mitt Romney in the 2012 Republican Primary.
Going Viral
The site continued to grow afterward, raising over $35 million in funding from investors the next year. They raised another $50 million in August 2014 from Andreessen Horowitz, more than doubling its previous rounds of funding.
3. Other interesting points
- Jonah Peretti settled a lawsuit where he was accused of identity theft by two of his competitors.
- As of early 2020, Jonah Peretti's net worth is $200 million.
4. Quote
"The biggest misconception people have is that quality is all that matters. The truth is that quality helps, but there's a ton of high-quality things that don't go anywhere." - Jonah Peretti
5. Company growth & sources (links)
