When Ric Elias and Dan Feldstein rebranded their company as Red Ventures in 2005, they weren’t the media powerhouse they are today.
According to an August profile in The New York Times, the company began by selling DirecTV subscriptions and ADT Security burglar alarms. From there, they quickly branched into online marketing and search engine optimization.
Today, their business model, among other things, looks more than a little different. The digital media company is valued at more than $10 billion, employs more than 4,500 employees, and has acquired the likes of Lonely Planet and CNET in the past year alone.
As a leader at CNET and ZDNet, EVP of Content and Audience Engagement Lindsey Turrentine has been on the front line of that growth since she came aboard last year. And the expansion doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon.
“Now we’re doubling down, hiring 150 more writers, producers, editors, engineers, artists, media sellers and thinkers to help us build a media brand for the next generation,” Turrentine told Built In SF.
In a recent interview with Built In SF, Turrentine explained the scaling her team has gone through, the obstacles and “aha” moments, and what the future holds for Red Ventures.
Tell us a bit about the team that scaled and your role on it. What is its purpose in the larger company, and why did it need to be expanded so quickly?
In 2020, CNET spun off from its parent company, ViacomCBS, and joined Red Ventures — a rapidly growing, privately-held digital media and marketing company based in South Carolina just across the border from Charlotte. Now, 25 years after CNET helped establish online journalism, Red Ventures is investing heavily in our brand so we can bring our time-tested storytelling, videos and advice to a larger consumer audience. We’re currently expanding our team in many locations across the globe to ensure that we have a diverse, inclusive and forward-thinking group in place as we continue to expand the scope of our work.
As the EVP of content and audience engagement, I’ve helped set the foundation for this growth strategy by working with other brand leaders to develop the vision for our team expansion and determining what talent resources we need to reach our goals.
Our goal is to be your guide to figuring out and embracing our complex, ever-changing world.”
What was the process of scaling like and how long did it take? Were there any hiccups or “aha moments”?
CNET has grown rapidly over the past two years as we move into topics that build off of our goal: to offer advice and news about our fast-changing world. Now we’re doubling down, hiring 150 more writers, producers, editors, engineers, artists, media sellers and thinkers to help us build a media brand for the next generation.
If 2020 taught us anything, it was that we could successfully manage remote teams as we kept our momentum going. Of course, we needed to be aware and mindful that our staff was coping with scheduling and other personal challenges, which is why we adopted a flex work schedule and time-shifting (e.g. working on Saturday so you could take Tuesday off). CNET was lucky in that we already had a digital-first organization in place so when the world went into lockdown mode, we leaned more heavily into the workflow tools we rely on, including Slack and Asana. But all that remote coordination and collaboration led to an abundance of Zoom meetings.
One “aha moment” from this process — you don’t have to do all meetings over Zoom. The phone still works for phone calls, which you can take while walking around outside.
What’s the most exciting project the team will be taking on in the next few months?
CNET’s mission has always been to offer honest advice and original reporting about the people, companies, products, ideas, technology, trends and issues that are changing the way we live. While we focused on technology, writing reviews and stories about gear, software and services when we launched, the world has changed — and we’ve been changing along with it.
Technology isn’t a vertical topic anymore. It’s part of the fabric of life and drives almost everything we touch each day. That’s why we’re excited to expand the areas that we cover — from science (including space and COVID-19) to general health and wellness, to personal finance to streaming services. Our goal is to be your guide to figuring out and embracing our complex, ever-changing world.
