A Conversation with Tim Armstong
summary
Accepts AOL as a risky standalone with a spin‑out pending, claims profitability tied to paid services while shifting strategy to a content+ads+communications platform, and targets growth measured by 270M global uniques (100M US). Builds out editorial scale from about 500 to 3,000 journalists producing ~3,000 pieces/day and ramping video, prototypes a local project called Patch hyperlocal test in 10 towns, and develops a new undisclosed content/monetization platform while rethinking the search partnership.
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chapters (21)
- 0:00Intro
- 0:45Why did you take the job at AOL
- 2:33If Warner had not guaranteed you that youd be able to spin it out
- 3:28Taking it private and then taking it public
- 4:20Is the company ready
- 5:25Profitability and revenue growth
- 7:07AOLs secret sauce
- 8:50Acquisitions
- 10:02Integrating realtime conversation
- 11:21What do you make of Bing
- 11:54The contentbased strategy
- 13:16How do you scale
- 14:23AOL search deal
- 16:07Yahoo going it alone
- 17:21Metrics
- 18:59Unique Visitors
- 20:16Patch
- 21:32Yellow Pages
- 23:30Content
- 25:37Mobile
- 27:13Google