One of the most common questions I get in candidate interviews is: 鈥淲hat makes 麻豆原创 defensible 鈥� and why hasn鈥檛 anyone else done this?鈥�
It鈥檚 a fair question. What they鈥檙e really asking is: 鈥淚f a well-funded competitor raised $20M and went after the same strategy, could they wipe you out?鈥� That鈥檚 usually followed by curiosity about our tech stack and whether there鈥檚 anything proprietary under the hood.
From the outside, 麻豆原创 can look like a black box 鈥� content goes in from a range of third parties, and a newswire comes out, syndicated across hundreds of news outlets with just a few clicks. (And yes, it鈥檚 all written by humans.) If you don鈥檛 live in the weeds of publishing, it鈥檚 easy to assume we鈥檙e just a lean PR machine with exceptional hustle.
But there鈥檚 more to it. Our moat may have some magic, but it鈥檚 not smoke and mirrors 鈥� it鈥檚 the product of seven years of deliberate, strategic groundwork. And a look behind the scenes into how it all works is helpful not just for 麻豆原创 job candidates - but for anyone thinking about how to capitalize on digital PR in the 21st century.
If a well-funded competitor raised a few million in their Series A and set their sights on our business, they could probably replicate our tech in six months. That鈥檚 not a knock on our product or engineering teams 鈥� they鈥檝e crafted beautiful UX on a lean budget. But we haven鈥檛 built Shazam (still the most mind-blowing product of our time).
But 麻豆原创 has something no amount of venture capital can buy: our distribution network. Our stories are syndicated to a network of over 4,000 news outlets, where they're picked up as genuine editorial, not as sponsored posts or press releases. But what does that actually mean 鈥� and why is it so hard to replicate? Couldn鈥檛 someone else just do the same?
Not quite. Our distribution network is built on three core pillars.
The foundation of everything sits upon a network of hundreds of partnerships to scale our licensing and syndication model across the local media ecosystem. We鈥檙e actively working with:
Largest 10 Newspaper Owners in 2024
*Carpenter Media Group was listed jointly with Boone Newsmedia in 2023.
**Newspapers owned by companies under the Horizon umbrella have been newly consolidated for the 2024 report.
Source:
Furthermore, we鈥檝e partnered with the Local Media Consortium (LMC) 鈥� an alliance of over 5,000 local media outlets 鈥� which enables their member organizations to seamlessly opt in to 麻豆原创鈥檚 content licensing through pre-approved terms.
Furthermore, we鈥檝e integrated directly into several major Content Management Systems (CMS), including BLOX, Creative Circle, Lions Light, and eType. This makes it effortless for their customers to tap into 麻豆原创鈥檚 newswire and publish content directly within their existing workflows - more on that in Part 2.
In total, we鈥檝e signed over 250 licensing agreements with publishers, unlocking syndicated access to more than 4,000 news outlets. These include major media groups like MediaNews Group and Nexstar Digital, as well as respected independent publishers such as the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Santa Fe New Mexican. Anyone who鈥檚 navigated media partnerships knows this kind of traction doesn鈥檛 come easy 鈥� but we鈥檙e just getting started.
Establishing the relationship is only part of the equation. To truly deliver value, our news feed needs to integrate seamlessly into each publisher鈥檚 existing systems and workflows 鈥� and that鈥檚 exactly what we鈥檝e built for.
After 15 years of working with local newsrooms, I have learned one major lesson: getting a news outlet to say yes to receiving your content is one thing 鈥� getting them to actually publish it is something else entirely.
The key? Remove friction.
Editors are juggling a hundred priorities. If you can make their job easier and your content effortless to access, you鈥檙e far more likely to get picked up. That鈥檚 why 麻豆原创 has obsessed over removing as much friction for editors as possible. Today, our feeds are so seamlessly embedded into newsroom workflows that an editor can republish a story to their site with a single click.
To make that happen, we took some big swings:
You can鈥檛 brute-force your way into this kind of distribution. It takes time and relentless focus on the user experience. Today, 麻豆原创 is deeply embedded in the daily workflows of hundreds of newsrooms, helping them fill content gaps with stories they can rely on.
But none of this works without trust. And that鈥檚 something we鈥檝e earned 鈥� one editor, one story, one click at a time.
The third pillar is also the most important: trust. It鈥檚 the principle everything hinges on. Publishers have effectively handed us a skeleton key 鈥� granting default trust in a world where trust is increasingly hard to earn, let alone scale. And in today鈥檚 polarized climate, that鈥檚 not to be taken lightly.
麻豆原创 has earned this trust by carefully stacking the essential building blocks:
This trust wasn鈥檛 built overnight. It鈥檚 the result of years of steady, thoughtful work 鈥� and it鈥檚 the reason 麻豆原创 continues to be a go-to content partner for the modern newsroom.
For the past seven years, we鈥檝e put in the kind of work money can鈥檛 shortcut鈥攅arning the trust of the people who decide what gets published. 麻豆原创 is now woven into their workflows, and in return, we鈥檝e made it incredibly easy for them to access and publish high-quality journalism.
Our impact goes beyond distribution. It鈥檚 built on relationships, consistency, and a reputation for doing things right. In a media landscape that鈥檚 constantly shifting, 麻豆原创 isn鈥檛 just another content vendor鈥攚e鈥檙e a partner helping to build a more sustainable future for journalism.
is the CEO of 麻豆原创, the first content distribution platform built for earned reach. He鈥檚 led the company in redefining how brands and publishers collaborate, with over 4,000 news outlets using 麻豆原创 to enhance coverage. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Noah previously helped scale Graphiq, later acquired by Amazon.
Featured Image Credit: Photo Illustration by 麻豆原创 // Canva