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How I Built This with Guy Raz
How I Built This with Guy Raz

Advice Line with Jonah Peretti of Buzzfeed

May 07, 2026 • 43m

Summary

⏱️ 12 min read

Overview

In this Advice Line episode, Guy Raz is joined by BuzzFeed founder and CEO Jonah Peretti to tackle business challenges from three founders. They help Anthony Cortez of MotionFlix navigate scaling his outdoor movie experience business, advise Andrew Bruce of CatSumo on defending his viral cat wrestling glove category from copycats, and guide Melissa Bermudez of Unrefined Foods on how to stand out in the crowded healthy food space. Throughout the conversation, Jonah shares insights from BuzzFeed's 20-year journey through the changing internet landscape while offering practical advice on scaling, branding, and building community.

BuzzFeed's Evolution and Current Challenges

Jonah Peretti discusses how BuzzFeed has transformed over two decades as the internet landscape shifted dramatically. The company, which once thrived on viral Facebook content, now faces a fragmented social media environment where publisher content no longer spreads organically. BuzzFeed has pivoted to direct traffic, active community engagement, and membership models while dealing with legacy costs including debt and real estate from pre-COVID decisions. Despite challenges including a going concern disclosure, Peretti remains optimistic about innovation through new AI apps and community-focused initiatives.

  • BuzzFeed still attracts tens of millions of monthly visitors and owns HuffPost, both Pulitzer-winning news brands
  • The biggest change is that content no longer goes viral on Facebook like it used to, and the social web is now fragmented across multiple platforms
  • BuzzFeed now focuses on direct traffic to their site and building active community through comments sections and membership programs
  • The company faces legacy challenges including pre-COVID real estate leases, debt payments, and restructuring costs
  • BuzzFeed disclosed a 'going concern' - a technical accounting term meaning liabilities within the year that exceed current cash balance
  • Management's plan involves returning to 'founder mode' and launching new initiatives including Branch Office incubator for AI apps
" Entrepreneurs have to continually reinvent their businesses and change what they're doing. "
" We're getting back to what we love most, which is innovating, creating new things. "

MotionFlix: Scaling an Outdoor Cinema Business

Anthony Cortez built MotionFlix during COVID, creating five-star outdoor movie experiences with plush seating, personal headphones, and elevated concessions. Starting as a temporary solution for social distancing, the business snowballed to over $1 million in revenue across multiple cities. Anthony's challenge centers on scaling seasonally while managing cash flow - specifically whether to expand through investing in aspiring entrepreneurs who would operate and own shares of each market, or maintain centralized control with trained employees.

  • MotionFlix creates outdoor cinema experiences with screens, headphones, concessions, and popcorn attendants serving throughout events
  • Primary clients include property management companies for resident events, Netflix and Prime for original film premieres, and cities for community events
  • The business started during COVID as a way to use unused resident event budgets while maintaining social distancing
  • MotionFlix generated over $1 million in revenue last year and operates in LA, San Diego, Orlando, Tampa, and Miami
  • Events are typically booked far in advance as locations plan programming in Q1 for the entire year
  • The business model includes weather insurance allowing date changes at no extra cost to clients
" It was supposed to be temporary, and then it snowballs, and now we're in Los Angeles, San Diego, Orlando, Tampa, and now just Miami. "
" I have always had a love for events...we kind of thought, how can we come up with a creative way for people to gather outdoors with proper social distancing and use these budgets that people have? "
" You should do one in the middle of winter. Serve soup. Blankets. It gets some social media pickup if these people went and picked the coldest day of the year. Heat lamps, blankets, marshmallows. Like a Buffalo Bills game, but for a movie. "
" I was like, there's no way I'll be on this podcast because I know it's usually really established founders. So this is a full circle moment for me. "

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