Morgan DeBaun on Reaching 20M Millennials - With Kat Manalac at the Female Founders Conference

Company Overview & Milestones

• Blavity, founded by Morgan de Bon in 2014, is the largest media company and lifestyle brand for Black millennials.
• The company has grown a community of over 7 million readers.
• Blavity raised a series A round of $1 million in the previous year, with Morgan de Bon noting a subsequent round has been secured but not yet announced.
• The company recently acquired Shadow and Act, positioning itself as a "Black Hollywood Reporter" for industry news and web series curation.

Founder Background & Pivot

• De Bon is originally from St. Louis, Missouri, and attended Washington University.
• She initially studied to become a teacher to help Black youth, switched to political science to influence policy, and realized entrepreneurship offered a more direct path to community impact.
• Prior to founding Blavity, she worked as a product manager at Intuit in Mountain View, Silicon Valley.
• Her motivation to launch Blavity intensified following the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in St. Louis; she observed a lack of centralized, mobile-first information for Black communities compared to the fragmented social media landscape of the time.

Strategic Evolution & Product Iteration

• Initial Concept: Launched as a video-focused website after an email newsletter, but pivoted rapidly after realizing the target audience preferred text content.
• Content Shift: De Bon killed a heavily custom-coded video platform after data showed a simple WordPress blog generated 1,000x more traffic than the video section; she then restructured the domain to prioritize text.
• Platform Strategy: Moved away from third-party platforms to build a proprietary CMS to support user-generated content, which now comprises approximately 50% of all content.
• Community-First Model: The strategy shifted from editorial vision to empowering creators, exemplified by partnering with Quinta Brunson (now a Buzzfeed star) early in her career.

Fundraising Challenges & Bootstrapping

• De Bon bootstrapped the company for one year while living in San Francisco.
• During the bootstrapping phase, the team of six to seven people was paid only $100 to $500 per month, funded entirely by the founder.
• Early fundraising attempts failed because de Bon tried to pitch investors based on competitor benchmarks (e.g., HelloGiggles) rather than her own unique ecosystem; investors could not comprehend the vision without immediate revenue to match.
• De Bon eventually secured funding by demonstrating robust organic growth numbers that proved the business model was viable without external investment.
• She notes that investors often dismiss Black female founders based on lack of traditional validation (e.g., specific degrees) or comparisons to male-dominated competitors.

Brand Portfolio & Future Direction

• Current Assets:
  • Blavity.com: Core media brand.
  • 2190: A newly launched sub-brand specifically for Black women, which outgrew the main brand's social channels due to the need for a distinct voice.
  • Conferences: Includes Afrotech (San Francisco) and EmpowerHer (national, recently in Chicago).
• Expansion Strategy: The company tests new verticals based on traction and speed, retaining what works and killing what does not (e.g., e-commerce tests).
• Future Vision: To establish Blavity as a recognized brand synonymous with positive energy and specific expectations for Black culture (e.g., music festivals, Netflix series).
• Untapped Markets: The company is evaluating expansion into the Black music media space, despite Black creators dominating the industry.

Advice for Founders

• Unapologetic Vision: Founders should embrace their full vision early rather than shrinking it to appease investors, though this requires overcoming the fear of being labeled "unfocused."
• Self-Validation: Female founders, particularly Black women, should not wait for permission or validation from industry gatekeepers who often rely on outdated data to discourage their existence.
• Community Support: Building a "tribe" of supporters who encourage founders to "go bigger, harder, and faster" is critical for overcoming barriers.