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Apr 1, 2016 · 21m · top-founders

$16m Just Raised and 1 Billion Monthly Active Views with Ashish Patel of NowThis EP 215

Ashish Patel · 11m 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 NowThis publisher Ashish Patel to discuss how the digital news brand eliminated traditional homepages, scaled to nearly one billion monthly video views, secured $16 million in venture capital, and built high-value branded content partnerships across native social platforms.

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 38.5% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 3.7 Guest teaching 4.0 Guest disagreement 1.0 Nathan pushing back 3.2
05100:0010:0020:001:38–5:09 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Rethinking the Traditional News Homepage Experience Nathan asks about NowThis's homepage and commercial model with Shell. Ashish explains that NowThis abandoned traditional homepages to distribute natively where social users live, outlining episodic branded content packages.5:09–7:57 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Editorial Workflows, Sourcing, and Youth Demographics Nathan presses Ashish on editorial planning and demands specific sourcing tools. Ashish educates on their strategy of staffing platform-native youth demographic teams and monitoring tools like Dataminr.7:57–12:31 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Commercial Models and Campaign Pricing Structure Nathan pushes hard on campaign economics and pricing thresholds, leading Ashish to establish boundaries around confidential figures. Ashish then breaks down their distinct straight-to-camera op-ed format and text-on-screen design for sound-off mobile viewers.12:31–15:22 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Facebook Video Distribution and Retention Tactics Nathan challenges Ashish to provide non-obvious, actionable distribution data rather than generic advice. Ashish explains the necessity of front-loading visual hooks in the opening 5-6 seconds to stop feed-scrolling on mobile.15:22–17:30 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Rapid Growth, Funding, and Channel Diversification Nathan attempts to summarize the company's growth milestones and fundraising figures, but Ashish politely corrects his timeline regarding when they hit one billion views and the exact funding total.17:31–20:01 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Expanding Niche Channels and Subject Verticals Ashish covers the launch of vertical channels like NowThisWeed, and Nathan transitions smoothly into his standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions to close the conversation.1:38–5:09 · Guest teaching 4/10 Rethinking the Traditional News Homepage Experience Nathan asks about NowThis's homepage and commercial model with Shell. Ashish explains that NowThis abandoned traditional homepages to distribute natively where social users live, outlining episodic branded content packages.5:09–7:57 · Guest teaching 4/10 Editorial Workflows, Sourcing, and Youth Demographics Nathan presses Ashish on editorial planning and demands specific sourcing tools. Ashish educates on their strategy of staffing platform-native youth demographic teams and monitoring tools like Dataminr.7:57–12:31 · Guest teaching 5/10 Commercial Models and Campaign Pricing Structure Nathan pushes hard on campaign economics and pricing thresholds, leading Ashish to establish boundaries around confidential figures. Ashish then breaks down their distinct straight-to-camera op-ed format and text-on-screen design for sound-off mobile viewers.12:31–15:22 · Guest teaching 5/10 Facebook Video Distribution and Retention Tactics Nathan challenges Ashish to provide non-obvious, actionable distribution data rather than generic advice. Ashish explains the necessity of front-loading visual hooks in the opening 5-6 seconds to stop feed-scrolling on mobile.15:22–17:30 · Guest teaching 5/10 Rapid Growth, Funding, and Channel Diversification Nathan attempts to summarize the company's growth milestones and fundraising figures, but Ashish politely corrects his timeline regarding when they hit one billion views and the exact funding total.17:31–20:01 · Guest teaching 1/10 Expanding Niche Channels and Subject Verticals Ashish covers the launch of vertical channels like NowThisWeed, and Nathan transitions smoothly into his standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions to close the conversation.1:38–5:09 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Rethinking the Traditional News Homepage Experience Nathan asks about NowThis's homepage and commercial model with Shell. Ashish explains that NowThis abandoned traditional homepages to distribute natively where social users live, outlining episodic branded content packages.5:09–7:57 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Editorial Workflows, Sourcing, and Youth Demographics Nathan presses Ashish on editorial planning and demands specific sourcing tools. Ashish educates on their strategy of staffing platform-native youth demographic teams and monitoring tools like Dataminr.7:57–12:31 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Commercial Models and Campaign Pricing Structure Nathan pushes hard on campaign economics and pricing thresholds, leading Ashish to establish boundaries around confidential figures. Ashish then breaks down their distinct straight-to-camera op-ed format and text-on-screen design for sound-off mobile viewers.12:31–15:22 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Facebook Video Distribution and Retention Tactics Nathan challenges Ashish to provide non-obvious, actionable distribution data rather than generic advice. Ashish explains the necessity of front-loading visual hooks in the opening 5-6 seconds to stop feed-scrolling on mobile.15:22–17:30 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Rapid Growth, Funding, and Channel Diversification Nathan attempts to summarize the company's growth milestones and fundraising figures, but Ashish politely corrects his timeline regarding when they hit one billion views and the exact funding total.17:31–20:01 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Expanding Niche Channels and Subject Verticals Ashish covers the launch of vertical channels like NowThisWeed, and Nathan transitions smoothly into his standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions to close the conversation.1:38–5:09 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Rethinking the Traditional News Homepage Experience Nathan asks about NowThis's homepage and commercial model with Shell. Ashish explains that NowThis abandoned traditional homepages to distribute natively where social users live, outlining episodic branded content packages.5:09–7:57 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Editorial Workflows, Sourcing, and Youth Demographics Nathan presses Ashish on editorial planning and demands specific sourcing tools. Ashish educates on their strategy of staffing platform-native youth demographic teams and monitoring tools like Dataminr.7:57–12:31 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Commercial Models and Campaign Pricing Structure Nathan pushes hard on campaign economics and pricing thresholds, leading Ashish to establish boundaries around confidential figures. Ashish then breaks down their distinct straight-to-camera op-ed format and text-on-screen design for sound-off mobile viewers.12:31–15:22 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Facebook Video Distribution and Retention Tactics Nathan challenges Ashish to provide non-obvious, actionable distribution data rather than generic advice. Ashish explains the necessity of front-loading visual hooks in the opening 5-6 seconds to stop feed-scrolling on mobile.15:22–17:30 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Rapid Growth, Funding, and Channel Diversification Nathan attempts to summarize the company's growth milestones and fundraising figures, but Ashish politely corrects his timeline regarding when they hit one billion views and the exact funding total.17:31–20:01 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Expanding Niche Channels and Subject Verticals Ashish covers the launch of vertical channels like NowThisWeed, and Nathan transitions smoothly into his standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions to close the conversation.

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

0:00 · Nathan 59.4% · guest 40.6%0:00 · Nathan 59.4% · guest 40.6%3:00 · Nathan 31% · guest 69%3:00 · Nathan 31% · guest 69%6:00 · Nathan 25.8% · guest 74.2%6:00 · Nathan 25.8% · guest 74.2%9:00 · Nathan 15.4% · guest 84.6%9:00 · Nathan 15.4% · guest 84.6%12:00 · Nathan 14.5% · guest 85.5%12:00 · Nathan 14.5% · guest 85.5%15:00 · Nathan 56.7% · guest 43.3%15:00 · Nathan 56.7% · guest 43.3%18:00 · Nathan 60.8% · guest 39.2%18:00 · Nathan 60.8% · guest 39.2%21:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%21:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 8:22 Declining disclosure on custom client pricing

Ashish sets a firm boundary when Nathan probes for specific Shell contract pricing, resisting public disclosure before Nathan narrows his question.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 8:46 Drilling down on six-figure campaign minimums

Nathan refuses to accept a vague pricing answer and forces Ashish into confirming whether standard brand campaigns exceed a $100,000 threshold.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 11:17 Explaining the silent mobile video architecture

Ashish details how NowThis engineered their entire visual and text styling around autoplay, silent mobile feeds, contrasting their op-ed framing against traditional sit-down broadcast interviews.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 5:09 Mapping multi-format social video workflows

Nathan showcases strong domain familiarity with content production by laying out how video assets must be split into specific aspect ratios and lengths across Instagram, Facebook, and Periscope.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Rethinking the Traditional News Homepage Experience 4413 Nathan asks about NowThis's homepage and commercial model with Shell. Ashish explains that NowThis abandoned traditional homepages to distribute natively where social users live, outlining episodic branded content packages.
Editorial Workflows, Sourcing, and Youth Demographics 4414 Nathan presses Ashish on editorial planning and demands specific sourcing tools. Ashish educates on their strategy of staffing platform-native youth demographic teams and monitoring tools like Dataminr.
Commercial Models and Campaign Pricing Structure 5525 Nathan pushes hard on campaign economics and pricing thresholds, leading Ashish to establish boundaries around confidential figures. Ashish then breaks down their distinct straight-to-camera op-ed format and text-on-screen design for sound-off mobile viewers.
Facebook Video Distribution and Retention Tactics 4514 Nathan challenges Ashish to provide non-obvious, actionable distribution data rather than generic advice. Ashish explains the necessity of front-loading visual hooks in the opening 5-6 seconds to stop feed-scrolling on mobile.
Rapid Growth, Funding, and Channel Diversification 3512 Nathan attempts to summarize the company's growth milestones and fundraising figures, but Ashish politely corrects his timeline regarding when they hit one billion views and the exact funding total.
Expanding Niche Channels and Subject Verticals 2101 Ashish covers the launch of vertical channels like NowThisWeed, and Nathan transitions smoothly into his standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions to close the conversation.

Statements from this episode (13)

Assertion Supported
NowThis replaced its homepage with direct links to social media feeds
“Up until we put up this Biden article sorry, Biden interview our homepage basically just said the words that, you know, homepage, even the word sounds old find us where you live on social. And we were just directing to those feeds.”
Ashish Patel Apr 1, 2016 ▶ 2:07
Disclosure
NowThis plans to revamp its homepage around a single-issue focus
“We're looking to kind of revamp it and see what we can do. And likely as opposed to traditional content experience, we'll have kind of single issue focus on that homepage.”
Ashish Patel Apr 1, 2016 ▶ 2:29
Disclosure
NowThis packages four to five hero video assets per branded campaign
“In a general package beyond shell what we'd like to do is at least four or five, what we call hero assets that are generally about a minute to two minutes long.”
Ashish Patel Apr 1, 2016 ▶ 4:05
Disclosure
NowThis staffs teenage creators to mirror its target audience on Snapchat
“On our side that we staff people that are basically mirroring our target audience on the other side. So we have, you know, an 18 year old on Snapchat talking to an 18 year old on Snapchat.”
Ashish Patel Apr 1, 2016 ▶ 6:20
Disclosure
NowThis uses Dataminr to spot trending stories on Twitter
“We look at we social listening tools Such as data miner and you know, really look for stories that are gaining velocity on platforms like Twitter,”
Ashish Patel Apr 1, 2016 ▶ 7:00
Assertion Not checkable as stated
NowThis audience leans socially liberal and focuses on progressive issues
“Our audience tends to be a little bit more socially liberal. It's definitely on the younger side. They care a lot about social issues like racial justice. A lot of a lot of focus on health affordable healthcare and education on gender equality on Sexual freedo…”
Ashish Patel Apr 1, 2016 ▶ 7:22
Disclosure
NowThis guarantees video views and impressions on brand campaigns
“So it's a campaign based. So yes, we do have guarantees on with generally with any program, we have guarantees on video views and impressions.”
Ashish Patel Apr 1, 2016 ▶ 8:37
Disclosure
NowThis charges more than $100,000 for branded sponsorship campaigns
“Generally it's more than that.”
Ashish Patel Apr 1, 2016 ▶ 8:55
Disclosure
NowThis replaces two-shot interviews with direct-to-camera video op-eds
“What we do is we kind of think of it more as a video op-ed style where our interviewer is not in frame. The questions are not vocalized or heard over the audio over the audio and the video. And you know, we shoot right to the subjects, you know, very close up …”
Ashish Patel Apr 1, 2016 ▶ 10:21
Insight
NowThis produces volume-agnostic videos for muted mobile social media feeds
“We definitely use text on screen and The primary point of that is to make sure that our videos are what we call volume agnostic. So, you know, you can enjoy them with the sound off and totally get the full context of the piece. But you're clicking in and liste…”
Ashish Patel Apr 1, 2016 ▶ 11:29
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Facebook native video generates four to six times higher reach than links
“The reach on those assets compared to things like links and photos are absolutely, you know, four, five, six times higher.”
Ashish Patel Apr 1, 2016 ▶ 13:00
Assertion Partly supported
NowThis scaled to one billion monthly video views by late 2015
“December of 2015, we were actually closer to a billion. That was the beginning of the year of 2015 where we were around one hundred fifty million views. So yeah, right now in January we're still around a billion views per month across all of our channels.”
Ashish Patel Apr 1, 2016 ▶ 15:41
Disclosure
NowThis operates dedicated social video channels for cannabis and alcohol
“We also have a marijuana channel, NowThisWeed, and just launched a booze channel called NowThisBooze.”
Ashish Patel Apr 1, 2016 ▶ 17:32
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