Erika Badan understands the skepticism.
As CEO of Barstool Sports activities for practically one decade, Badan oversaw an editorial empire that remodeled armchair quarterbacking, raucous podcasting, and “smokeshow” franchises right into a $550 million sale in 2023.
So, when she was named CEO of Food52 in April, the appointment felt odd.
Whereas Barstool serves an viewers of younger males looking for sports activities takes and blue humor, the stylish meals media agency, began by New York Occasions journalists Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, caters to an prosperous, primarily feminine readership with a penchant for boutique flatware and seasonal cooking.
The 2 media publishers—on the floor, at the very least—might hardly be extra completely different. However Badan sees it as a “pure match.”
“I believe to evolve your profession, you’ll want to do issues that scare you, and I knew I needed to work with a unique sort of buyer,” Badan stated. “There’s by no means going to be one other Barstool, however I preferred the thought of an natural content material expertise that may be monetized in a number of methods and serve a commerce enterprise.”
In Food52, although, Badan is inheriting not only a considerably completely different sort of buyer, however a vastly completely different set of circumstances, in keeping with paperwork shared with ADWEEK and interviews with 10 present and former staff.
Like many corporations within the dwelling and eating house, Food52 flourished throughout the early days of the pandemic. Between 2019 and 2021, its income practically tripled, ballooning from $32 million to $80 million. It additionally secured greater than $160 million in funding from non-public fairness agency The Chernin Group, which the writer used to finance its fast enlargement.
However when the economic system turned in 2022, Food52 discovered itself overexposed, in keeping with eight present and former staffers.
It spent the subsequent two years conducting a regular drumbeat of layoffs, biking by govt management, and greedy for a strategic imaginative and prescient that will fulfill its followers, employees, and buyers. This 12 months, the model goals to generate round $28 million in income—a fraction of what it took in simply two years in the past, in keeping with two folks acquainted with its funds.
The challenges going through Food52 replicate the pitfalls of the content-to-commerce enterprise mannequin extra broadly, which TCG has championed throughout its portfolio of editorial manufacturers—a cohort that features Barstool and Food52, in addition to different titles like Good day Sunshine, Crunchyroll, and Hodinkee.