Hi, everyone! Welcome to the first Smoothletter of the new year. Our vibe for 2024 is to match the pace of the internet, which has—in one short week—overdelivered on unbelievable moments: the Bass Pro Shops guy, the guy who got stuck in the urn, the tunnels under New York City. (These will feel like they all happened four years ago in a mere two months.)

Here’s to a fast-moving, consistently iconic year for all of us.

—Kinsey, cofounder and head of editorial

Smooth Media: Building the Platform for Knowledge Creators

For the last several months, we’ve been sharpening our focus here at Smooth. We’ve always been big believers in focus as a tool for scaling: It’s focus that helps us set priorities, become more resilient, and relentlessly pour ourselves into our very best work.

We’ve crystallized our vision for the future and how we want to shape it…and now, it’s time to share that vision publicly. Here goes →

Let’s break down that mean, lean vision for Smooth.

What is a “knowledge creator?”

Knowledge creators educate and empower their audiences through smart, insightful content. By publishing their expertise freely and accessibly, knowledge creators have ushered in a new era of the internet—allowing anyone to explore diverse topics, develop skills, advance their careers, gain perspectives, overcome challenges, and grow.

Why the obsession with knowledge creators? This class of creators has transformed the opportunities available to anyone with internet access and a little curiosity. 

And we don’t think that’s an exaggeration—we’re still so early (I know, I know) in the trajectory of this knowledge creator industry, but we do know a few truths to be self-evident: 1) People trust and follow people and 2) the value these creators deliver can be drastically multiplied when paired with sound business strategy and execution.

We’ve built our platform to work in lockstep with creators, developing that sound business strategy and executing the hell out of it. (Yes, we do have a Post-It that says “Media is an execution game.” —Sean Griffey on our bathroom mirrors.) 

What do you mean by “platform?”

We provide services that support the growth of knowledge creators and their businesses. This is delivered through two core services:

1. Smooth’s content services team helps knowledge creators make more high-quality content across media.

2. Smooth’s brand partnerships team helps knowledge creators build scalable, sustainable revenue strategies.

Our core focus in building this platform is to work deeply with our creators, becoming an extension of their teams. We aren’t just looking to give creators back time or stabilize their businesses…we are built to accelerate their growth.

We do that by consistently prioritizing clear communication, clean processes, and *don’t say it don’t say it don’t say it* smooth operations. When we’re aligned on the broader strategy with one of our knowledge creators, we can push toward big, shared goals together and maximize our impact.

So that, my friends, is our distilled vision. I speak for the whole team in saying that we’ve never been so energized and excited by what’s in front of us.

I ask you, reader—besides my parents (hi guys)—what do you think? We’d love to hear your feedback on what this mission is lacking, where it’s strongest, and what other questions you have about our business and its future.

Now? Back to work. This platform isn’t gonna build itself.

• The 2024 State of Email Newsletters by beehiiv was full of super interesting findings re: emails, data, and the big trends worth tracking in contentland.

• Two great podcast recs: CAA cofounder Michael Ovitz on Invest Like the Best’s Knowledge Is Power, and FreightWaves founder and CEO Craig Fuller on Making Media.

• Eric Newcomer, who founded the indie VC and startups newsletter aptly called Newcomer, generated more than $1 million in top-line revenue in 2023, per Axios. Love to see it.

• I know this was a year-in-review and we’re now in the next year, but I really enjoyed reading Packy McCormick’s thoughts on momentum stalling in his 2023 retrospective.

#digibuzzcodevoxious is a term we coined back in our Morning Brew days—a portmanteau of Digiday, BuzzFeed, Recode, Vox, and Axios. Obviously, the year was 2018 and the interest rates were zero. But still, the sentiment of “interesting media trends and news” remains. So the name stays.

Thanks for reading! Closing out today’s send with fabulous news: Today is the first day for our new account management team member, Delaney! She’s joining Ali’s team to scale up our brand relationships. We’re so excited she’s here!

See you next week ✌️