Study: Digital Startups Vs. 'NYT' In Revs Per Staffer
- by Sara Guaglione , May 10, 2018
Digital media startups generated an average $180,000 of annual revenue per employee last year, according to a study of nine publishers by tech news site The Information.
The Information found that the group of digital media publishers brought in an average of nearly $200,000 per employee, compared to The New York Times Company, which generated more than twice, an average of $443,000 per employee.
Refinery29 and Bustle, which focus on lifestyle and culture for millennial women, generated much more than millennial-focused news site Mic, which brought in $143,000 per employee, the lowest of the group.
The Information notes that legacy publishers, like The New York Times Company, have a lot of costs, like printing a daily newspaper, which digital startups do not have.
Newer, fast-growing publishers may increase headcount as they build revenue. Axios, which drew in $157,000 revenue per employee, according to the study, was created just last year.
Axios had the fewest employees with 95, and of the start-up publishers, Snap had the highest with 3,069 employees.
It is also worth noting BuzzFeed, Vox and Mic had rounds of layoffs in recent months.
The pool of nine publishers is a small one, and comparing them to only The New York Times Company is an interesting choice for the study. However, it gives a peek at the efficiency of a few digitally native publishers and how much revenue is driven by teams, ranging from the thousands to the double-digits.
Cheddar had the smallest total total revenue of the group, at $11 million, of the startup publishers, Snap had the highest total revenue at $824 million.
The Information used revenue data and publicly disclosed details about employee numbers for the study.
