StarZero All shows Try the podcast clipper →

Apr 6, 2016 · 20m · top-founders

0 to 80m Monthly Unique Website Views and Millions in Revenue by 31 with Gerard Adams of Elite Daily EP 228

Gerard Adams · 10m spoken Nathan Latka · 7m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this episode of The Top, host Nathan Latka interviews Gerard Adams, co-founder of Elite Daily, exploring how he bootstrapped the millennial news platform to 80 million monthly unique visitors and $20 million in revenue before selling to Daily Mail. Adams also breaks down native advertising models, content scaling strategies, and his transition into new media ventures.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 42.7% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 3.7 Guest teaching 3.0 Guest disagreement 1.3 Nathan pushing back 4.0
05100:0010:0020:001:36–4:15 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Making the First Million at Age 24 Nathan probes into Gerard's early PR revenue breakdown and pushes past an initial refusal to disclose Elite Daily's revenue by demanding a ballpark figure.4:15–7:45 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Native Advertising Case Studies and Audience Growth Nathan presses Gerard for specific deal sizes on native advertising campaigns with Fiat and T-Mobile after Gerard hesitates due to company disclosure limits.7:45–10:03 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Bootstrapping Elite Daily and Publishing 80 Articles Daily Gerard explains bootstrapping the platform on WordPress with initial capital, while Nathan questions the editorial strategy behind publishing 80 articles daily.10:03–13:18 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Recruiting, Incentivizing, and Retaining Content Writers Nathan explicitly rejects Gerard's claim that writers were retained purely by culture, forcing Gerard to share specific freelance payout figures of $20 to $25 per article.13:19–15:52 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Traffic Growth Tactics, Trend Tracking, and Brand Equity Gerard educates listeners on why buying traffic failed long-term and how tracking social media trends helped Elite Daily capture real millennial audience attention.15:53–19:26 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Mid-Roll Promotions: Giveaway Reminder and HostGator Sponsorship Nathan delivers mid-roll sponsor reads and runs Gerard through the standard rapid-fire Famous Five routine.1:36–4:15 · Guest teaching 2/10 Making the First Million at Age 24 Nathan probes into Gerard's early PR revenue breakdown and pushes past an initial refusal to disclose Elite Daily's revenue by demanding a ballpark figure.4:15–7:45 · Guest teaching 3/10 Native Advertising Case Studies and Audience Growth Nathan presses Gerard for specific deal sizes on native advertising campaigns with Fiat and T-Mobile after Gerard hesitates due to company disclosure limits.7:45–10:03 · Guest teaching 3/10 Bootstrapping Elite Daily and Publishing 80 Articles Daily Gerard explains bootstrapping the platform on WordPress with initial capital, while Nathan questions the editorial strategy behind publishing 80 articles daily.10:03–13:18 · Guest teaching 4/10 Recruiting, Incentivizing, and Retaining Content Writers Nathan explicitly rejects Gerard's claim that writers were retained purely by culture, forcing Gerard to share specific freelance payout figures of $20 to $25 per article.13:19–15:52 · Guest teaching 4/10 Traffic Growth Tactics, Trend Tracking, and Brand Equity Gerard educates listeners on why buying traffic failed long-term and how tracking social media trends helped Elite Daily capture real millennial audience attention.15:53–19:26 · Guest teaching 2/10 Mid-Roll Promotions: Giveaway Reminder and HostGator Sponsorship Nathan delivers mid-roll sponsor reads and runs Gerard through the standard rapid-fire Famous Five routine.1:36–4:15 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Making the First Million at Age 24 Nathan probes into Gerard's early PR revenue breakdown and pushes past an initial refusal to disclose Elite Daily's revenue by demanding a ballpark figure.4:15–7:45 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Native Advertising Case Studies and Audience Growth Nathan presses Gerard for specific deal sizes on native advertising campaigns with Fiat and T-Mobile after Gerard hesitates due to company disclosure limits.7:45–10:03 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Bootstrapping Elite Daily and Publishing 80 Articles Daily Gerard explains bootstrapping the platform on WordPress with initial capital, while Nathan questions the editorial strategy behind publishing 80 articles daily.10:03–13:18 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Recruiting, Incentivizing, and Retaining Content Writers Nathan explicitly rejects Gerard's claim that writers were retained purely by culture, forcing Gerard to share specific freelance payout figures of $20 to $25 per article.13:19–15:52 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Traffic Growth Tactics, Trend Tracking, and Brand Equity Gerard educates listeners on why buying traffic failed long-term and how tracking social media trends helped Elite Daily capture real millennial audience attention.15:53–19:26 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Mid-Roll Promotions: Giveaway Reminder and HostGator Sponsorship Nathan delivers mid-roll sponsor reads and runs Gerard through the standard rapid-fire Famous Five routine.1:36–4:15 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Making the First Million at Age 24 Nathan probes into Gerard's early PR revenue breakdown and pushes past an initial refusal to disclose Elite Daily's revenue by demanding a ballpark figure.4:15–7:45 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Native Advertising Case Studies and Audience Growth Nathan presses Gerard for specific deal sizes on native advertising campaigns with Fiat and T-Mobile after Gerard hesitates due to company disclosure limits.7:45–10:03 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Bootstrapping Elite Daily and Publishing 80 Articles Daily Gerard explains bootstrapping the platform on WordPress with initial capital, while Nathan questions the editorial strategy behind publishing 80 articles daily.10:03–13:18 · Nathan pushing back 7/10 Recruiting, Incentivizing, and Retaining Content Writers Nathan explicitly rejects Gerard's claim that writers were retained purely by culture, forcing Gerard to share specific freelance payout figures of $20 to $25 per article.13:19–15:52 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Traffic Growth Tactics, Trend Tracking, and Brand Equity Gerard educates listeners on why buying traffic failed long-term and how tracking social media trends helped Elite Daily capture real millennial audience attention.15:53–19:26 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Mid-Roll Promotions: Giveaway Reminder and HostGator Sponsorship Nathan delivers mid-roll sponsor reads and runs Gerard through the standard rapid-fire Famous Five routine.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 68.3% · guest 31.7%0:00 · Nathan 68.3% · guest 31.7%3:00 · Nathan 22.5% · guest 77.5%3:00 · Nathan 22.5% · guest 77.5%6:00 · Nathan 27.2% · guest 72.8%6:00 · Nathan 27.2% · guest 72.8%9:00 · Nathan 31.7% · guest 68.3%9:00 · Nathan 31.7% · guest 68.3%12:00 · Nathan 21.2% · guest 78.8%12:00 · Nathan 21.2% · guest 78.8%15:00 · Nathan 62.1% · guest 37.9%15:00 · Nathan 62.1% · guest 37.9%18:00 · Nathan 71.3% · guest 28.7%18:00 · Nathan 71.3% · guest 28.7%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 10:41 Gerard defends non-monetary incentives

Gerard counters Nathan's skepticism by arguing that an unfunded startup had to compete with venture-backed rivals through office events, swag, and editorial freedom.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 10:29 Nathan rejects the culture narrative

Nathan cuts Gerard off to state that writers need to pay for food and demands clear numbers on how freelance contributors were financially compensated.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 14:15 Gerard details the pitfalls of paid traffic

Gerard explains that paid boost strategies produce low-value traffic that advertisers reject, detailing why organic social distribution creates lasting brand equity.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 10:29 Nathan extracts real contributor pricing

Nathan refuses generic answers about culture and forces Gerard to specify granular contributor economics like $20 to $25 PayPal payouts.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Making the First Million at Age 24 4215 Nathan probes into Gerard's early PR revenue breakdown and pushes past an initial refusal to disclose Elite Daily's revenue by demanding a ballpark figure.
Native Advertising Case Studies and Audience Growth 4315 Nathan presses Gerard for specific deal sizes on native advertising campaigns with Fiat and T-Mobile after Gerard hesitates due to company disclosure limits.
Bootstrapping Elite Daily and Publishing 80 Articles Daily 3313 Gerard explains bootstrapping the platform on WordPress with initial capital, while Nathan questions the editorial strategy behind publishing 80 articles daily.
Recruiting, Incentivizing, and Retaining Content Writers 5437 Nathan explicitly rejects Gerard's claim that writers were retained purely by culture, forcing Gerard to share specific freelance payout figures of $20 to $25 per article.
Traffic Growth Tactics, Trend Tracking, and Brand Equity 4412 Gerard educates listeners on why buying traffic failed long-term and how tracking social media trends helped Elite Daily capture real millennial audience attention.
Mid-Roll Promotions: Giveaway Reminder and HostGator Sponsorship 2212 Nathan delivers mid-roll sponsor reads and runs Gerard through the standard rapid-fire Famous Five routine.

Statements from this episode (8)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Adams' marketing agency hit $10M annual revenue with five people
“I actually got up to ten million dollars a year in revenue with like a small team of like five of us by the time I was 24.”
Gerard Adams Apr 6, 2016 ▶ 2:29
Assertion Contradicted
Adams: Elite Daily generated around $20M in revenue in 2015
“It would be around twenty million.”
Gerard Adams Apr 6, 2016 ▶ 3:46
Disclosure
Adams: Elite Daily's early Fiat native ad deal was around $20K
“So that was a smaller deal. I believe that deal thinking back was around 20,000.”
Gerard Adams Apr 6, 2016 ▶ 6:56
Assertion Partly supported
Adams: Elite Daily reached 80M monthly unique visitors when acquired
“Well, at the time that we sold it, we were at eighty million unique visitors.”
Gerard Adams Apr 6, 2016 ▶ 7:23
Assertion Partly supported
Adams: Elite Daily Had 65 Employees at Acquisition, Now Over 200
“You know, at the time we're now over 200 employees at the time of the sale was around 65 employees.”
Gerard Adams Apr 6, 2016 ▶ 7:56
Disclosure
Adams: Elite Daily Was Bootstrapped with Around $60,000 Initial Capital
“The total capital like bootstrapped was around 60,000.”
Gerard Adams Apr 6, 2016 ▶ 8:40
Disclosure
Adams: Elite Daily started off paying writers $20 to $25 per article
“We started off with paying people like 25 dollars, 20, 25 dollars, you know, to write articles.”
Gerard Adams Apr 6, 2016 ▶ 11:50
Disclosure
Adams: Elite Daily initially bought traffic and boosted Facebook posts
“Initially, yeah, we did have services to help us boost traffic. We used Facebook, you know, boosting articles, and we did spend money on, on figuring out how to also get traffic to this site quickly.”
Gerard Adams Apr 6, 2016 ▶ 13:56
Made with StarZero

Turn any episode into a week of clips.

This entire site, over 2,600 episodes transcribed, diarized, checked and made playable, runs on the StarZero media pipeline. Drop in your own episode and the podcast clipper finds the moments worth sharing, cuts them, captions them, and reframes them for every feed.

Try the podcast clipper Learn more