14 Media Company Success Stories [2023]

14 Media Company Success Stories [2023]
Start A Media Company

A media company is a business with professional editors and writers that create and publish content periodically. Media companies distribute content in different forms, including video, audio, and video.

To start a media company, determine the kind and size of the audience you are targeting. Then, create catchy content your potential audience will want to share or invite their friends to checkout.

Remember, quality content is nothing without a high-quality underlying platform. The content distribution platform should be easily accessible to your audience. Otherwise, your media company will not deliver quality results.

Here are some real life success stories of starting a media company:

1. Starter Story ($1.09M/year)

Pat Walls (from New York, New York, USA) started Starter Story over 5 years ago.

Revenue
$91K / month
Team
1 founders / 6 employees
Location
New York, New York, USA

Case Study
  • The most comprehensive interview about starting: Founder Interviews: Pat Walls of Starter Story.
  • A more personal side of the story: The Best Year Of My Life: In 35 Tweets.
  • More recent: How Starter Story grew to 1.4 million monthly visitors and $500,000 in annual revenue
  • Latest: 5 years building Starter Story # Read these first
  • The most comprehensive interview about starting: Founder Interviews: Pat Walls of Starter Story.
  • A more personal side of the story: The Best Year Of My Life: In 35 Tweets.
  • More recent: How Starter Story grew to 1.4 million monthly visitors and $500,000 in annual revenue
  • Latest: 5 years building Starter Story

2. Warrior Lodge Media ($252K/year)

Wes O'Donnell (from Grand Haven) started Warrior Lodge Media over 9 years ago.

Revenue
$21K / month
Team
1 founders / 2 employees

Case Study

Hi, my name is Wes O’Donnell and I am the founder of Warrior Lodge Media, an all-in-one informational website for military and veterans, a film and TV production studio, and an eCommerce store.

The best part is that Warrior Lodge is almost completely “hands-off”, even the eCommerce vertical, and generates true passive income.

how-i-started-a-21k-month-military-and-veterans-media-company-and-ecommerce

Learn more about starting a media company:

Where to start?

-> How much does it cost to start a media company?
-> Pros and cons of a media company

Need inspiration?

-> Examples of established media company
-> Marketing ideas for a media company

Other resources

-> Media company tips

4. Startup Story Private Limited ($60K/year)

Anil Bakshi (from New Delhi) started Startup Story Private Limited about 2 years ago.

Revenue
$5K / month
Team
1 founders / 10 employees

Case Study

I am Anil Bakshi, Founder & CEO of Startup Story and an entrepreneur by profession, having acquired 11+ years of industry experience has backed the strong grasp I command in the field of marketing, business consultation, and coaching. I have ventured and been at the forefront of various successful startups and enterprises. Along with this, I possess first-hand experience with the current startup framework and have a deep understanding of today’s market.

Startup Story helps people to learn and get inspired from the lives of those who have moved up in the world, despite overwhelming odds. We have designed this initiative to bring these stories across you to inspire and help you explore and take on unpredictable situations. Choosing unconventional paths is not easy but Startup Story media adds the missing ingredient in your plans through our services like podcast series, startup tv, live interviews and stories based on real-life experiences, and our exclusive range of startup support services. So Far we have covered 150+ stories of inspiring entrepreneurs and have a steady traffic of around 50k monthly unique visitors.

on-starting-a-website-to-promote-indian-startups-and-entrepreneurs

5. Sunlight Media LLC. ($204K/year)

Angelo Frisina (from Los Angeles, California, USA) started Sunlight Media LLC. about 12 years ago.

Revenue
$17K / month
Team
1 founders / 2 employees

Case Study

I am Angelo Frisina, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sunlight Media, LLC., located in Los Angeles, California. We are a digital marketing company specializing in web design, app development, and various digital marketing services. These services include Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay Per Click (PPC), social media marketing, email outreach, and more.

Sunlight Media LLC is continuing to expand in terms of revenue, enterprise productivity, and brand value. The company began under my direction as a founder and is currently running operations with multiple departments such as marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), web and mobile application development and design, videography, and more. We are assisting and managing projects for numerous clients daily while expanding our networks beyond our local geographical region. Additionally, our focus will be to continue to grow domain authority for our website and our clients, showcase our values to customers through online reviews, testimonials, and optimize our workflows to improve overall productivity.

a-pro-musician-turned-entrepreneur-earning-200k-per-year

6. Joker Mag ($3K/year)

Tyler O'Shea (from Philadelphia, PA, USA) started Joker Mag over 5 years ago.

Revenue
$250 / month
Team
1 founders / 0 employees

Case Study

Hello! My name is Tyler O’Shea and I’m the founder of Joker Mag, a media platform for inspiring underdog stories in sports. Through original articles that celebrate the underdog mentality, our mission is to inspire athletes, coaches, and sports fans to conquer obstacles and overcome adversity.

In case you’re still wondering, he got his name from the black spot around his eye that’s reminiscent of the infamous Batman villain!

getting-cut-from-my-baseball-team-led-me-to-build-a-blog-for-underdog-stories

7. MrBeast YouTube Channel ($54M/year)

MrBeast runs YouTube channels with over 100M combined subscribers. MrBeast is also called the "Santa of YouTube". Here's the case study on how he gained 90 million subscribers.

MrBeast (from Wichita, KS, USA) started MrBeast YouTube Channel about 11 years ago.

Revenue
$4.5M / month

Case Study

Some of the BIGGEST accomplishments of MrBeast:

  • Raised $20 million to plant 20 million trees
  • Donated over 100 cars including Lamborghini
  • Gave away a private island
  • Gave away 1 million dollars in one video and did many more of such crazy stuff

article

Read the full story on bloggerspassion.com ➜

8. Fin vs Fin ($600K/year)

Alex Goldberg and Healy Jones (from Santa Monica, California, USA) started Fin vs Fin about 4 years ago.

Revenue
$50K / month
Team
2 founders / 10 employees

Case Study

Hiya! My name is Alex Goldberg, and I’m the founder of Fin vs Fin, a portfolio of popular product reviews that include, among others, finvsfin.com and zenmasterwellness.com. Despite not being much of an online shopper nor a wellness guru, my partner and I somehow managed to build a profitable media business centered on helping consumers compare health products online.

This is the story of turning a “dumb side project” into my full-time focus, stumbling into financial freedom by repeatedly doubling down on tiny wins. I hope you find it inspiring enough to launch your entrepreneurial project or keep at whatever hustle you’re currently focused on. Truth be told, you may be closer to predictable seven-figure revenue than you think.

how-i-grew-my-dumb-blog-to-a-portfolio-that-generates-70k-profit-month

9. Franchise UK ($600K/year)

Joel Bissitt (from Norwich, UK) started Franchise UK about 19 years ago.

Revenue
$50K / month
Team
1 founders / 5 employees

Case Study

My name is Joel Bissitt & I am MD of Franchise UK, The UK’s largest franchise directory. For 18 years, we have assisted franchise businesses to grow by generating quality franchisee recruitment leads online.

Franchise UK has grown rapidly, particularly over the last 5-6 years & we have achieved year-on-year growth since 2017 with a 50% increase in turnover last year.

how-i-started-the-uk-s-largest-franchise-directory-and-make-600k-year

10. The College Investor ($288K/year)

From a $10,000 a month “blog” to a 7-figure “Media Company” — a lot can happen in six years. Today’s guest is one of my most important real and virtual online business mentors — I’m always trying to pay attention and keep an eye on what Robert Farrington from TheCollegeInvestor.com is up to. Fun f…

Robert Farrington (from El Cajon, CA, USA) started The College Investor over 13 years ago.

Revenue
$24K / month
Team
1 founders / 2 employees

Case Study

Robert Robert Farrington is the sole founder of The College Investor and in 2009 he build this online media company to help out students.

In order to begin creating true wealth for the future, The College Investor is on a mission to assist you in getting out from under your student loan debt. In early 2016, Robert was still working full-time at Target while his side hustle was making $10k per month. He grew this business little by little and currently he earns around 24K/month from The Collge Investor.

His website offers information on student loans, taxes, tax software, investing, insurance, and budgeting and has over 1 million monthly visitors.

article

Read the full article on sidehustlenation.com ➜

11. On Brand ($1.8K/year)

Brian McEuen (from Chicago, IL, USA) started On Brand about 3 years ago.

Revenue
$150 / month
Team
1 founders / 1 employees

Case Study

My name is Brian McEuen, and I'm the founder of On Brand. We help guys shop for clothes online by curating personalized selections as if they were walking into their very own store. We're like Spotify for clothes! Another way to put it: imagine those “Top 25 T-Shirts for this Summer” lists curated just for you down to the right size, fit, style, and color!

I currently have about 75 users and an annualized revenue run rate of $1800.

spotify-for-clothes-how-i-launched-a-business-helping-guys-discover-new-clothing

12. YourAverageTechBro ($30K/year)

Dohyun Kim (from ) started YourAverageTechBro over 2 years ago.

Revenue
$2.5K / month
Team
1 founders / 1 employees

Case Study

Hi! My name is Dohyun Kim, and I am the individual behind the social media account YourAverageTechBro. My largest platform is TikTok with 155,000 followers, and I am also on Youtube with around 11,000 subscribers, and I am also on Instagram with a much more humble follower count of 850, and on Twitter @DohyunKim.

Currently, I am averaging around $3000/month across ad money, sponsored content, and a few course sales (this is a much newer product category that I am breaking into.

how-i-grew-a-niche-tiktok-account-to-155k-followers

13. Medium ($34.8M/year)

This is my story of how I stumbled into making money on Airbnb without owning, renting or investing my own money.

Evan Clark Williams (from San Francisco, California, United States) started Medium over 10 years ago.

Revenue
$2.9M / month
Team
1 founders / 5288 employees

Case Study
  • Medium.com was founded by Evan Clark Williams in August 15, 2012.
  • Medium.com combines elements of blogging services and social networking.
  • After the company was founded, it managed to raise more than $130M in just 5 years.
  • They have grown their team to 5000 employees.
  • Medium relies on Amazon’s Virtual Private Cloud for its production environment.

article

Read the full story on wiredelta.com ➜

Pat Walls,  Founder of Starter Story
Want to find more ideas that make money?

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