Jarrod Dicker is currently the commercial chief at the Washington Post. There, he oversees the business of The Post across advertising, subscriptions and R&D as well as new ventures (like WaPo’s Zeus, which we discuss in-depth during this interview) and is a former CEO/founder in the crypto space (po.et). Prior to his days at the Post, he ran product, engineering and business teams at RebelMouse, The Huffington Post and Time Inc.
Before his current media role, he started his career as a music journalist and photographer, amassing over 100 interviews with musicians/bands/artists. When he’s not doing everything I just shared, he writes on the creator economy and the application of it for independents and existing media companies.
WARNING: If you’re expecting a “professional” (aka boring) chat about media and the creator economy, you’re going to be disappointed with this one. Jarrod and I go DEEP on newsletters, Substack (duh), how journalists are the new rock stars and how THAT makes newspapers the new record labels.
We also talk about the media landscape in 2021 and beyond, why all journalists should learn the business side of media and I reveal why I have 0% interest of partnering this newsletter with a legacy media brand (Not gonna lie, this might be the take that kills the remaining dreams I had of ever getting a fawning profile in the NYT, lol).
If you’re a media operator, publisher, writer, editor, advertising person, suit, C-suite person looking to get more in tune or you’re just someone who is really really really nerdy about this stuff, today’s episode is for you.
STUDY GUIDE:
The Next Media Opportunity: Talent, Reputation and Lessons from Record Labels
Breaking the Fourth Wall: The Business of Media Subculture
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