Ex-Business Insider EIC Carlson starts Dynamo

Nicholas Carlson, the former editor in chief of Business Insider, has started a video company called Dynamo with the backing of people in business journalism, reports Benjamin Mullin of The New York Times.

Mullin writes, “As he was leaving Business Insider, Mr. Carlson sounded out Henry Blodget, the former chief executive of the company, on his next steps. In September, Mr. Blodget joined Dynamo as an investor and future board member and helped Mr. Carlson raise $3.4 million from backers including Jessica Lessin, the founder of The Information; FirstMark Capital; Jon Steinberg; and Alyson Shontell, the top editor of Fortune.

“Over the last few weeks, during a series of lengthy phone calls, Mr. Blodget, 58, and Mr. Carlson batted ideas for Dynamo back and forth. One frequent topic: managing each video to make sure that costs are in line with the revenue they generate. That focus is one of the big lessons from the 2010s, Mr. Blodget said, when start-ups like Vice Media and BuzzFeed News lost millions of dollars annually.

“‘It is not easy by any means,’ Mr. Blodget said. ‘But what the companies need to do is figure out a model that works with the consumption patterns and the revenue that is available.'”

Read more here.