Short-form social is becoming the new TV! With Zach Blume from Portal A

0:00Ian Shepherd:This week on the Business of Creators, I'm joined by Zach Blume, co-founder of Portal A, the independent creative studio behind 15 years of premium branded content. YouTube Rewind and now their most ambitious bet yet. Moonshots is almost like a return to our original roots. It's an opportunity for us to really like almost unshackle ourselves a little bit creatively and experiment and play. Zach shares his perspectives on the creator economy. This space can create like premium elevated entertainment. It doesn't have to just be like shaky cameras and stunts. And thoughts on the future. To see YouTube to continue to establish itself in the pole position, we think is really good for the creator economy.

0:45It's really good for more premium high level content.

0:48Ian Shepherd:If you believe in the future of premium content, creator led innovation, and betting big on bold ideas, this one's for you.

1:02Ian Shepherd:Zach, let's start at the beginning. What led you to found Portal A? So it's a bit of a winding road. My background after college was actually in politics. I worked in the political space for five years. And as I was transitioning to go to business school, which would have been a much more traditional path, obviously, two of my best friends from growing up had started making internet video in the earliest days of YouTube. We had grown up together in the Bay Area and they reached out to me and said, you know, as you're, as you're studying for the GMAT and going to go to business school, will you come run this show with us?

1:36Like basically we'll do all the creative, you do the business and the marketing of the series. And it was a no brainer. It was like just a fun experience with my friends. And we made this, you know, it was a pretty successful kind of hit show in the early days of YouTube called White Collar Brawler. And it was this web series when that was still a term, it may be coming back now about two office workers who trained to become boxers and it was you know it had a diversified revenue mix it was really good content i built a pretty significant audience i won a bunch of awards and we were like the three of us felt like well is there something here like we may have a business here and so we started looking for i decided not to go to business school because it felt like we had momentum but we started looking for the next shows that we were going to create all these original series.

2:24And as we were looking for our next show, developing our next show, we had some brands start to reach out to us looking for branded content, basically like what we, our little special sauce that we had figured out about how to make good internet video. And what we call gigs at the time, our first few clients were The Gap, Trace Agave's Tequila, and YouTube actually itself, eventually and over time became a a branded content business, like basically a branded content agency. So we kind of backed into it, starting with original content, and then started making brand content, and the rest was history.

2:58Ian Shepherd:And you were super early, right? Just in terms of what sort of era was this? The era was, so our first web series was 2005, actually, before the business started. We went to Asia, bought motorcycles, did a crazy trip across Vietnam and a few other countries, and we had a web series called Huge in Asia. So our start was literally like at the dawn of YouTube. And then Portolet as an entity started with some web series like the one I just described, and really the branded business began in 2010. So our first branded projects were 2010, 2011, Our first YouTube Rewind, which we did for YouTube and then did for nine years after that was 2011 as well.

3:45So this was the period when YouTube was obviously becoming a very mature business, but the ecosystem around it was just developing. It was just getting started. One of our early advisors, we were making web series and one of our early advisors, a guy by the name of Steve Wolf, told us that we should pay attention to YouTubers. And it was a term we had never heard before. And we say, what are YouTubers? What does that mean? And so the notion of a YouTube creator was just really taking off at that point.

4:18Ian Shepherd:So early, early days. Amazing. And can you set the scene? What was it like working with brands back then? What did you get right? And what were some of the challenges you came across? us we have more challenges than things we got right i would say it was i mean i had never run a business before so it was it was every day was a new learning and a new you know test and learn new mistake probably i think what we got right was kind of like a social native point of view like because of where we started we weren't like advertising professionals or entertainment professionals who were trying to move over and had all the kind of the baggage from traditional advertising, marketing, and entertainment.

5:03We were like a clean slate. And so because we started making native YouTube social content, that was really the origin story of the three of our journey. We were able to bring that kind of like raw social native energy that wasn't polluted or corrupted by some of the traditional media kind of ways of doing things. So I think that's what we got right. What we probably didn't get right is we just literally had no idea what we were doing. We were amateurs, you know, in terms of how to run a business, how to work with clients, even some production stuff as we went. So yeah, there's a steep learning curve in the beginning, but we had like smarts we had the three of us were were like a unit and we still are to this day and we had like a lot of raw energy i think you're very humble because clearly the business is still

6:02Ian Shepherd:thriving uh how would you sort of describe the business model evolving just over time like how you go about your business i mean the model the the core business model has basically remained the same it's actually a very in in our industry which has so many different complex business models where there's like you know it's actually very straightforward which is like work for hire creative services for brands obviously we've diversified and we can talk about that like into different areas and original content which was you know where we started and we got back into that and we're investing in projects and creators and at this point we're you know we have a lot of different things we're playing with but the core business the engine has actually stayed the exact same i mean and it's it is it is just a very straightforward complicated in execution creative work is very very hard obviously and sophisticated but like from a business perspective the transaction is actually very simple it is a just straight work for hire the brand pays us a an amount of money, a budget, and we go make work.

7:12And that has allowed us to be profitable since day one and throughout our journey.

7:17Ian Shepherd:And you took some investment in 2019 with Wheelhouse. Can you talk about that at all? Yeah. So we were like, it's a bit of a cliche term, but we were fiercely independent for the first nine years, eight years, nine years of our journey. We were just, it was just like, felt like us against the world and we loved it. We kind of relished in that. But in 20, around 2018, we started feeling like it might be time to get some more muscle and open up some new opportunities for our team. And so we started looking about at who would be a good strategic partner for us, like who could open doors. We were not looking to sell.

7:57And, you know, we did that deal in 2019. And six years later, we're still don't have as much gas in the tank and kind of independent energy as we always have, but we were looking to align ourselves with a strategic partner that could create new opportunity for us. And so we kind of mapped out what would be the ideal partner. And what we were looking for is someone who could level us up into different areas. At that point, we were really looking to diversify into original content, like I mentioned, and open doors into like more premium spaces, potentially like longer form, et cetera. And so we were looking at kind of, you know, big, bigger production companies or media agent, media companies that could create that opportunity.

8:38So we had looked at, you know, one of the companies we were talking to is Anonymous Content, which was always a North Star company for us that we really admired. And Wheelhouse, I forget how we were introduced, but we just connected on a personal level with the founders over there. It was, you know, started with Jimmy Kimmel. And so there was a lot of excitement around that and the opportunity that would create. and we went through a year-long conversation or negotiation, whatever you want to call it, with them, and ended up selling 25 % of the business to Wheelhouse. And it's been one of the best things we've done as a company.

9:18It allowed us to enter into a new chapter of the business with a really stable partner that could help us grow. And we've maintained control over the company, which has been essential for us. like being able to make decisions about everything, how we operate the business. And Wheelhouse has been an incredibly supportive partner in that. You know, those deals can go like a hundred different ways. Obviously, as you know, like there's, it's, it's complicated. It's a marriage of certain, of some sort, but it's been a really positive, happy one for us. And we're very grateful.

9:50Ian Shepherd:That's awesome to hear. And what's the vibe like at Portal A? How, how big is the team and how have you found scaling a creative business? the team is about 40 people it's a wonderful size we love this size you know we don't have aspiration to grow headcount purely for the sake of growing headcount we we will grow as needed i love the size of our team i love like knowing everybody's spouses and dog and children's names and having a real relationship with people and having a real sense of connectivity across the team there were moments like you know around when we did the wheelhouse deal where we did feel like we were scaling um we were growing fast like adding headcount and it was hard like it was it is hard to scale a creative business again as you know um you know there's like a lot of things that happen culturally like you have to ensure the work is still like excellent like the quality of work can't suffer at all.

10:52And so, you know, we, after that period where it felt like maybe we were moving too fast, we've tried to be like, you know, just incredibly intentional about our growth and about like the composition of our team and the culture. And we've invested like really deeply in our people, in the culture, Port-au-Lay, in the kind of a sense of community and togetherness and connectedness. And I don't want to sound like some tech CEO who's like, you know, we're just a family or maybe they said that a few years ago not anymore i i stay away from the word as a family because uh you know family is family and and work is not family but we do try to create a community on our team like where we support each other and care about each other um and i think people would really people really feel that so long story short we love our size we'll grow as needed but there's no desire to scale just for scale's sake because for all the reasons I just described.

11:49Ian Shepherd:That's awesome to hear. Now, one thing I want to talk to you about is Moonshots. What's that and why now? Right. So Moonshots is almost like a return to our original roots. Like when I talked about that first series that we made, White Collar Brawler was the name. It was an independent web series that was experimental and we were playing with all sorts of new formats you know short form long form experiential live events ticketed events like it was just a big it was a big experiment basically and with our branded work you know it's it's complicated and it's ambitious and these projects are unbelievably complex but you're executing on a brief it's it's like c-ball hit ball, make something big and good, but it's like there's an assignment.

12:39And with Moonshots, which is a program where we invest in creators that we believe in and independent creative ideas that we believe in, it's an opportunity for us to really like almost unshackle ourselves a little bit creatively and experiment and play. And it's like, it scratches so many itches for our company, for our business. It is like good for our team creatively to work on independent work. You know, we finance like five short films from various members on our team that have gone on to win a bunch of awards at festivals. And it just, it makes us happy. It makes our team happy. It's a way to uncover new talent.

13:15So we've discovered a bunch of creators that we love and are now working with very closely. And it's a chance to build intellectual property that we own and that we can then exploit and take out to the market in various ways. So it's a return to our original content roots and it's half just creative exploration and half like building IP that we can then take out and do interesting things with.

13:44Ian Shepherd:I love that you're investing into the creator economy. The million dollar question is how do you choose which creators to back? Yeah, it's hard because like, you know, creators who have matured to a certain level are built a certain audience, like at this point, again, as you know very well, are basically many or not many studios. They have their own production facilities, their own staff that's like, you know, producers and writers and directors, et cetera. And we don't, we, we would be redundant to work with them. Like they already have their studio operation. So really we're looking for creators who have not yet advanced to that level, but have like big creative aspirations who we believe like are on the cusp of, you know, either breaking out or like are doing something very very unique creatively so we're looking for creators that are like you know emerging in size have not yet built their studio ecosystem and have creative aspiration beyond maybe what they have the capabilities to do themselves so this is not us just like you know repeating what they're already making it's like it's like it's like what's your what's your biggest idea that you don't feel like you have the bandwidth or the capabilities to execute on what's going on that together so it's creators who are like aspirational creatively and are emerging in terms of size and that we feel like we can collaborate on and make something big together and can you give us a flavor of one or more of those projects yeah i mean one of my favorites there's like we've done i think 25 moonshot projects so far they varied in format from short films like i mentioned which which has been really fun to episodic series like on social so there's been a lot of kind of instagram tiktok short form episodic series to long form we've we've made a feature documentary we've done um quite a few like longer format explorations but there's been a series of like this short form episodic format which i think is a emerging trend in our space is this almost like tv for short form social you're seeing a lot of shows pop off in that space and one of our favorites was it is a project called third cultures and it's with a creator called jakey cho who is i think my favorite creator in the world he's a kind of like a new york deep like hardcore new york accent korean american guy who goes around and finds like his core thing is finding the best food in new york from across a variety of different types of food um so he's like a foodie but travel a lot of travel too and the concept for third cultures was his immigrant communities in places you wouldn't expect and the kind of fusion of cultures that happens there.

16:34So the first run of episodes, Jakey was in Italy and there's a town called Prado, Italy where there's like a large Chinese community there. And so we sent him to Italy. We produced, you know, in this town, a series that was all about the confluence of Chinese food and culture and Italian food and culture. And it's like all this like food and mishmash of culture and language that you really wouldn't expect. And so it was just like, to me at least, it was like, you know, we've all seen these travel shows. They're all kind of, there's like a formula. But this was like a really unique take on a travel show.

17:14And it popped off on social, millions and millions of views. And we're now taking it out as a long form show to either to brands or to linear TV.

17:25Ian Shepherd:I love how you describe it there. It's almost like the flavors of the food. Yeah. so you've i mean you've been involved in what we now call the creator economy since the dawn of time what excites you most about where it's going i think um so we've been so we are kind of seen like in the brand marketing world as creators of more premium content in our space like that's that's been our north star and i think we've kind of manifested that reputation a little bit like there is scale in the creator economy and especially in creator marketing like a lot of brands enter the space almost as a media play in order to achieve scale and they're basically buying sponsorships across channels at scale that is not and never has been our business and so we've been kind of like banging the drum for like this space can create like premium elevated entertainment It doesn't have to just be like shaky cameras and stunts and like, you know, all that type of stuff.

18:30And so what I've seen over the last stretch, which is really exciting for us, is I think as YouTube has, as we've all seen, has continues to just eat market share and viewership and just even surpassing some of the purveyors of entertainment that we thought were unsurpassable, like Netflix. And then as YouTube also is now seeing more on TVs, even more so than on mobile devices, it's an indication to me that social content and YouTube is not just like crap that you swipe through on your phone and never think about again. It actually can be like mid-form, longer form. It can be like more premium.

19:13It can be something that viewers actually sit back and watch and not just like swipe through on their phones for a quick, you know, quick hit. And I think so. I think there's a move. There had been a move towards scale and just like scaled content, scaled sponsorships, etc. And I think there might be a move toward more premium content. happening in our space. And I think YouTube is at the forefront of that. And I, you know, we're very, very happy to see that we're very happy to be a part of it. You know, we've been YouTube, YouTube has been our central hub, and a partner of ours for 15 years. And so to see YouTube to continue to establish itself in the pole position, we think is really good for the creator economy.

20:03Ian Shepherd:It's really good for more premium high level content. I definitely echo that. And at Electrify, we're really focused on quality, not quantity. Yes. We had a Veritasium video that we released a couple of weeks ago, 55 minutes, and it got more than 10 million views in the first week. And it was the attention to detail. It was the animations. It was the storytelling. And more of the viewing on that channel comes from TVs than any other devices, which is sort of a real tailwind we've seen in the last five years on YouTube. Yeah, it feels like it's been happening, but now the industry, like there's a difference between like the viewers kind of like dictate the trends, obviously, and the creators do.

20:45And it feels like it's been moving that direction. But now the industry is paying attention to that. And I feel like it's good for creativity in our space. It's good for like the longevity of our space. It's good for like more premium investment in our space. So it's an exciting trend.

21:01Ian Shepherd:And the YouTube algorithm, I believe, really rewards great content like that. Yeah. The reason why that video got 10 million views is because YouTube know that the audience want to watch it and they put that video in front of them. Is there anything that keeps you up at night in terms of the creator economy or your own business? I mean, in terms of the creator economy, I'm like incredibly optimistic. And I haven't always been that way. There's been ebbs and flows. I think one of the biggest ebbs for us was when it felt like everything was moving in the direction of kind of lower quality and scale.

21:35And so obviously the pie is just continues to grow. And if the if again, if the investment continues to be toward higher quality content, I think it is really good for the longevity of our industry. So I feel incredibly optimistic about the state of the industry right now. In terms of the business, I mean, we're doing really well. We're coming off a string of really, really good years. I feel like in part because the industry is doing really well and also in part because we've been at it for long enough that people kind of know who we are at this point and respect what we've built. So I feel like we're in a really good spot.

22:17I think the challenge for our business and any business like ours is often like diversification of your client base, which is like really kind of wonky and nerdy for hopefully a couple of people out there will resonate with that. But yeah, we're, you know, we have, you know, our businesses is, is dependent on, on our brand clients. And we have some really, really, really wonderful clients. Like we have been with YouTube and Google for literally 15 years in various forms. we've worked with target for i think five or six years now really closely lenovo for 10 plus years so we have this base of clients but we're always hoping to expand into new areas and so we just um we just started work with a major car maker like major major car maker that we're really excited about and a major major toy company uh that we're really excited about so we're getting there that kind of diversification of revenue is getting to where we want it to be but that's that's been like one of the biggest challenges over the years for sure that's wonderful to hear with those great

23:22Ian Shepherd:brands what do they do well and what advice would you give to others listening to learn from them yeah i mean i think i think the partners that we work with that do well which which are our core partners that we just i just talked about they have like fully embraced the change in the media ecosystem they they have not like not entered into the creator and social content space kicking and screaming it's not like a side bet or like a side hustle is like their investment in the creator economy and in social content generally feels like central to their marketing mix and so when you take it out of this kind of like you know at the bottom of a spreadsheet like this little side, like experiment and recognize that like brands as marketers need to be going where audiences actually are, despite, you know, 50 years of tradition about how they, you know, how they marketed to consumers.

24:18I think those are the brands that will win over the next, you know, 10, 15, 20 years. And, you know, our partners have been, I think, really progressive in that way. And, you know, those are the type of partners we love working with.

24:31Ian Shepherd:how about from a creative perspective do you have any advice for emerging creators about how they should build their business having worked with them for so long honestly no because we're not as like they are good they are so good at what they do like we can't i can't we have stayed away from the channel building business for the most part because it's so hard. I mean, again, I know this is something you do really well, but we are much better at big series or big hero moments, TEDxPol moments. Obviously, we do shows and projects, but the building of an audience and that direct connection to your audience over the course of years is not something we have done a lot of at least since our earliest days and so for me to give advice to creators would be like you know uh me telling uh anthony edwards you know this nba player how to shoot a basketball like they are the stars and when we work with them we just want to we just want to take their magic and you know pour a little bit of our special sauce or you know dust and like make it all better but i would never endeavor to give advice to creators because honestly i think i think it's incredible what they do and it's i i can imagine how hard it is to to keep feeding your audience so i just like come from a place of humility and respect for what creators are able to do enough well it's been great chatting hearing about the story and how you've been pioneering with branded content.

26:16Ian Shepherd:Branded content is a cool theme for Electrify's strategy in 2025, and you've been doing it for 15 years. I've just got one final question. Is there a brand out there, like a dream brand, that you want to work with that you haven't yet? It's funny. We don't really even think about things that way. I'm just being totally honest. I remember in Mad Men, I feel like in the advertising world, they really do do that. They're like, we want Nike and we're going to go get Nike. We've never really thought about things like that. We want to work with partners who are ready to embrace this new world. I think that's it.

26:52And honestly, whether it's a pair of shoes or a tech platform or whatever it is, that's one thing. But we want to work with partners who are ready to invest in this new space and make work that will break through the noise and the clutter of this space. In terms of the specific brands, we're fairly agnostic as long as it isn't certain categories that we don't want to operate in. It's more just like the ambition and like openness to how media is changing, what viewers are looking for. That's the kind of partners we're looking for.

27:27Ian Shepherd:Very wise words. Well, a great perspective as well. Thanks, Zach. It's been great to speak and learning about it. All of the best with Moonshots and your other projects. Thank you. It's been a pleasure.