The Exchanges

Q Speaking about kind of what they've done and kind of the visibility to see that, you've said before to me that you like to be as open as possible with Potential investments as well as people to hire. So talk to me, what does that really mean with regards to investment sourcing as an element?

A So for us, we've always been really open. So we have on our website a, an email address to send anyone who wants to send us a deck or just a pitch email can send it to us. And we've always looked at everything, I think. And it's a lot. It's challenging. So we look at around 600 ish deals a year. And that doesn't mean we meet with all of them, but we'll at least look at them. And I think it's important. I think You know, we want to see a diversity of ideas from a diversity of different kinds of people, and so the whole concept of you have to network your way to us, I don't really believe in that. So, you know, when I first started the first deal, maybe not the first deal, but the first one I sort of sourced and ended up working on, um, came to us completely over the transom and just sort of called us up and said, do you guys do investments? And somehow the call got ratted to me, and I really liked it. And so, if we weren't That open. You know, we never would have done that deal.

AI assessment note: “we have on our website a, an email address to send anyone”

Q How do you view and evaluate frontier tech like AR or VR? Say VR has a potentially transformative effect on kind of the top line business, business for you, uh, but then it's also a transformative platform within subcategories. How do you think about that as an investment opportunity?

A So we've made a few VR investments. The ones that we've made have been doing really well in terms of being able to raise additional money and have products in market like NextVR. I think we think about it from the lens of, you know, the content that we have now and What makes sense in VR? I think it's super early still, just from a, obviously from a usage standpoint, I think it's only going to get better, but it's early. So we're, we've made a few bets in companies that we know we'll be able to partner with in the near term to bring sort of basketball games to life, for instance, in VR, or take some of our, we made an investment in a company called Adai, which does volumetric capture of actual people. So you could like volumetrically capture Wonder Woman and then Put her in your office.

AI assessment note: “I think we think about it from the lens of, you know, the content that we have”

Q Speaking about kind of changing rapidly, one thing that changes rapidly is the excitement and hype cycles within the gaming sector. And one thing you've suggested to me before is, uh, your kind of excitement around the gaming sector today. Uh, so talk to me, what, why is there still bullishness from your behalf with regards to investing in gaming when potentially the hype cycles don't follow you?

A Right. Look, we are very bullish on the game sector as a company. Uh, Warner Brothers has now has around a one and a half billion dollar top line games business, which is amazing. They've acquired a bunch of companies over the past 10 years. Um, so we develop and publish all of our own games now. Or across console, PC, and mobile. A lot of that's our IP, like all the Batman games, for instance, but some of it's, um, you know, sort of acquired game IP that we have. It's just a growing, interesting sector. Video gaming is still a very big and growing media platform, so we as a company have a lot of IP that makes a lot of sense in that environment, um, in the video game environment, and so from an investment standpoint, we're really looking at what's the next thing, right? So who's innovating, Like one of my recent deals from last year, Outpost Games, they're creating a really innovative game as well as an underlying sort of tech platform that goes along with it, and sort of that's what's next on the frontier. So for us, given that we do believe in the gaming sector and think it works great for a lot of our IP, from an investment standpoint, we're looking at who's innovating in the sector, who's creating the next thing. So not just another tablet game that looks like this, but, you know, who's sort of moving the industry forward and creating new formats and new platforms that coul…

AI assessment note: “we are very bullish on the game sector as a company.”

Q Speaking about kind of what they've done and kind of the visibility to see that, you've said before to me that you like to be as open as possible with Potential investments as well as people to hire. So talk to me, what does that really mean with regards to investment sourcing as an element?

A So for us, we've always been really open. So we have on our website a, an email address to send anyone who wants to send us a deck or just a pitch email can send it to us. And we've always looked at everything, I think. And it's a lot. It's challenging. So we look at around 600 ish deals a year. And that doesn't mean we meet with all of them, but we'll at least look at them. And I think it's important. I think You know, we want to see a diversity of ideas from a diversity of different kinds of people, and so the whole concept of you have to network your way to us, I don't really believe in that. So, you know, when I first started the first deal, maybe not the first deal, but the first one I sort of sourced and ended up working on, um, came to us completely over the transom and just sort of called us up and said, do you guys do investments? And somehow the call got ratted to me, and I really liked it. And so, if we weren't That open. You know, we never would have done that deal.

AI assessment note: “we have on our website a, an email address to send anyone”

Q You know, the structure behind them or that person?

A Obviously both, but first, just the structure. Like, what is that? How do they operate? How many deals do they do? How long have they been in the market? And then also really understand their businesses. You know, I can't tell you how many times people get mixed up as to what Time Warner is, although that's kind of fair because we've changed a lot through the years, but understand what that strategic represents, what their businesses are, and really try to figure out, are there any natural fits Between what you're trying to do as an entrepreneur and the divisions and the businesses they have at that particular strategic What would be first? And then understand the person. What deals have they done? How have they acted? Talk to some of their other CEOs and try to get a sense for what kind of investor they are.

AI assessment note: “Obviously both, but first, just the structure.”

Q Speaking about kind of changing rapidly, one thing that changes rapidly is the excitement and hype cycles within the gaming sector. And one thing you've suggested to me before is, uh, your kind of excitement around the gaming sector today. Uh, so talk to me, what, why is there still bullishness from your behalf with regards to investing in gaming when potentially the hype cycles don't follow you?

A Right. Look, we are very bullish on the game sector as a company. Uh, Warner Brothers has now has around a one and a half billion dollar top line games business, which is amazing. They've acquired a bunch of companies over the past 10 years. Um, so we develop and publish all of our own games now. Or across console, PC, and mobile. A lot of that's our IP, like all the Batman games, for instance, but some of it's, um, you know, sort of acquired game IP that we have. It's just a growing, interesting sector. Video gaming is still a very big and growing media platform, so we as a company have a lot of IP that makes a lot of sense in that environment, um, in the video game environment, and so from an investment standpoint, we're really looking at what's the next thing, right? So who's innovating, Like one of my recent deals from last year, Outpost Games, they're creating a really innovative game as well as an underlying sort of tech platform that goes along with it, and sort of that's what's next on the frontier. So for us, given that we do believe in the gaming sector and think it works great for a lot of our IP, from an investment standpoint, we're looking at who's innovating in the sector, who's creating the next thing. So not just another tablet game that looks like this, but, you know, who's sort of moving the industry forward and creating new formats and new platforms that coul…

AI assessment note: “we are very bullish on the game sector as a company”

Q No, I agree. But going back to kind of the world of corporate investing, we said about the immense increase in the number of players. What do you really believe then it takes to be a great strategic investor amongst the plethora that we've seen arise over the last few years?

A So I think first you have to start at just what does it take to be a good investor, right? And how do you, how are you a good, helpful venture capital investor? And so if you're a lead and you're acting as a lead and joining boards, what does it take to be a good board member and start with that and So how helpful you can be to your companies with everything from hiring to fundraising to MNA to biz dev and strategy. And then you sort of have to layer on top of that, you know, how you can then be extra helpful, right? So you get the VC, how do you be a good VC down? And then how can you be even more helpful? And as a strategic for us, that means connections within our big company and Time Warner within all of our divisions and helping the entrepreneurs sort of navigate those conversations and set up those meetings for them and try to be as helpful as we can with You know, biz dev in our company.

AI assessment note: “as a strategic for us, that means connections within our big company”

Q You said to me before that with regards to being a strategic, you think it's fun with regards to not just being solely about the kind of financial returns. What, what leads this thinking?

A I just think it's more interesting to have a thesis and you're looking, so you have a thesis and a lens that you're looking through to understand what investments are going to make sense. So you have one lens is always, you know, is this going to be a good financial outcome? But then having another lens, which is, does this fit strategically with us? And then what could we learn about this? Right? So I really love media and technology and the intersection of those two things and how technology can change the way we're going to consume content going forward and interact with content going forward. So having sort of that piece and being able to think about that and thinking about how a new technology can disrupt one of our businesses or help one of our businesses to me just makes it a lot more fun, especially because I am interested in that sector.

AI assessment note: “having another lens, which is, does this fit strategically with us?”

Q You know, the structure behind them or that person?

A Obviously both, but first, just the structure. Like, what is that? How do they operate? How many deals do they do? How long have they been in the market? And then also really understand their businesses. You know, I can't tell you how many times people get mixed up as to what Time Warner is, although that's kind of fair because we've changed a lot through the years, but understand what that strategic represents, what their businesses are, and really try to figure out, are there any natural fits Between what you're trying to do as an entrepreneur and the divisions and the businesses they have at that particular strategic What would be first? And then understand the person. What deals have they done? How have they acted? Talk to some of their other CEOs and try to get a sense for what kind of investor they are.

AI assessment note: “Obviously both, but first, just the structure.”

Q What's the primary mindset for you? And then maybe you'll be able to kind of speak more broadly on the corporate VC ecosystem, just in terms of, is it a strategic mindset first? Is it a financial gains mindset first? How does that mindset work?

A So it's different. I think it's different for every strategic you'll talk to. Everyone has their own flavor. I think for us, it's definitely both. So we need to make money. You know, we want to be competitive with VC returns and make money for our shareholders and our company. But the strategic piece for us is equally important. So it's sort of a fifty-fifty. So we want to make sure we're going to make money on each deal if we can and make a lot of money. And then we also want to make sure we're creating some strategic value for our divisions and just for us, you know, overall from a corporate strategy perspective of understanding, you know, what's going on. So we have sort of two buckets of what's strategic. There's companies that can be great business partners sort of in the near term with any of our three divisions. And then there's the second bucket, which is really more of the lack of a better term, Disruptive technology bucket, which is what companies, companies that are really sort of changing things in the digital media ecosystem, and we may not partner with them right away, but we're learning about big disruptive tech that could change our industry and change how we talk to consumers.

AI assessment note: “I think for us, it's definitely both.”

Q No, I agree. But going back to kind of the world of corporate investing, we said about the immense increase in the number of players. What do you really believe then it takes to be a great strategic investor amongst the plethora that we've seen arise over the last few years?

A So I think first you have to start at just what does it take to be a good investor, right? And how do you, how are you a good, helpful venture capital investor? And so if you're a lead and you're acting as a lead and joining boards, what does it take to be a good board member and start with that and So how helpful you can be to your companies with everything from hiring to fundraising to MNA to biz dev and strategy. And then you sort of have to layer on top of that, you know, how you can then be extra helpful, right? So you get the VC, how do you be a good VC down? And then how can you be even more helpful? And as a strategic for us, that means connections within our big company and Time Warner within all of our divisions and helping the entrepreneurs sort of navigate those conversations and set up those meetings for them and try to be as helpful as we can with You know, biz dev in our company.

AI assessment note: “And as a strategic for us, that means connections within our big company”

Q You said to me before that with regards to being a strategic, you think it's fun with regards to not just being solely about the kind of financial returns. What, what leads this thinking?

A I just think it's more interesting to have a thesis and you're looking, so you have a thesis and a lens that you're looking through to understand what investments are going to make sense. So you have one lens is always, you know, is this going to be a good financial outcome? But then having another lens, which is, does this fit strategically with us? And then what could we learn about this? Right? So I really love media and technology and the intersection of those two things and how technology can change the way we're going to consume content going forward and interact with content going forward. So having sort of that piece and being able to think about that and thinking about how a new technology can disrupt one of our businesses or help one of our businesses to me just makes it a lot more fun, especially because I am interested in that sector.

AI assessment note: “I just think it's more interesting to have a thesis and you're looking”

Q Is that like a buzzfeed of the world?

A Right. So it's driven our investments in companies like Bustle, which is targeting women, 18 to 34, and they're now the biggest site on the web hitting women, 18 to 34, which is amazing. It's driven our investment in Mike, which is one of my most recent investments, which is really a news brand for millennials and uncovering issues and topics that are really important to that demo. So I think there's new brands being created addressing the needs of millennials from a sort of journalism standpoint and a content standpoint, but then there's also All the interesting technologies around how we consume content, how we navigate content, and how we are recommended content, and sort of the whole consumer experience of sitting down and maybe watching a TV show is very different now than it was 10 years ago. So understanding that and how consumers discover and enjoy and, and watch things has just changing so rapidly, and so that's obviously important to us as, you know, a huge creator of all that content.

AI assessment note: “Right. So it's driven our investments in companies like Bustle”

Q How do you view and evaluate frontier tech like AR or VR? Say VR has a potentially transformative effect on kind of the top line business, business for you, uh, but then it's also a transformative platform within subcategories. How do you think about that as an investment opportunity?

A So we've made a few VR investments. The ones that we've made have been doing really well in terms of being able to raise additional money and have products in market like NextVR. I think we think about it from the lens of, you know, the content that we have now and What makes sense in VR? I think it's super early still, just from a, obviously from a usage standpoint, I think it's only going to get better, but it's early. So we're, we've made a few bets in companies that we know we'll be able to partner with in the near term to bring sort of basketball games to life, for instance, in VR, or take some of our, we made an investment in a company called Adai, which does volumetric capture of actual people. So you could like volumetrically capture Wonder Woman and then Put her in your office.

AI assessment note: “we think about it from the lens of, you know, the content that we have”

Q What's the primary mindset for you? And then maybe you'll be able to kind of speak more broadly on the corporate VC ecosystem, just in terms of, is it a strategic mindset first? Is it a financial gains mindset first? How does that mindset work?

A So it's different. I think it's different for every strategic you'll talk to. Everyone has their own flavor. I think for us, it's definitely both. So we need to make money. You know, we want to be competitive with VC returns and make money for our shareholders and our company. But the strategic piece for us is equally important. So it's sort of a fifty-fifty. So we want to make sure we're going to make money on each deal if we can and make a lot of money. And then we also want to make sure we're creating some strategic value for our divisions and just for us, you know, overall from a corporate strategy perspective of understanding, you know, what's going on. So we have sort of two buckets of what's strategic. There's companies that can be great business partners sort of in the near term with any of our three divisions. And then there's the second bucket, which is really more of the lack of a better term, Disruptive technology bucket, which is what companies, companies that are really sort of changing things in the digital media ecosystem, and we may not partner with them right away, but we're learning about big disruptive tech that could change our industry and change how we talk to consumers.

AI assessment note: “I think for us, it's definitely both. So we need to make money.”

Q Is that like a buzzfeed of the world?

A Right. So it's driven our investments in companies like Bustle, which is targeting women, 18 to 34, and they're now the biggest site on the web hitting women, 18 to 34, which is amazing. It's driven our investment in Mike, which is one of my most recent investments, which is really a news brand for millennials and uncovering issues and topics that are really important to that demo. So I think there's new brands being created addressing the needs of millennials from a sort of journalism standpoint and a content standpoint, but then there's also All the interesting technologies around how we consume content, how we navigate content, and how we are recommended content, and sort of the whole consumer experience of sitting down and maybe watching a TV show is very different now than it was 10 years ago. So understanding that and how consumers discover and enjoy and, and watch things has just changing so rapidly, and so that's obviously important to us as, you know, a huge creator of all that content.

AI assessment note: “Right. So it's driven our investments in companies like Bustle”