How to build a collaborative, community-focused media space
Cutting advertising meant losing revenue in exchange for trust. But for Indonesia’s DailySocial, it was a worthy tradeoff, says founder Rama Mamuaya.
Takeaways
Be unique. From cutting advertising out of their revenue stream to recently launching a SaaS platform, DailySocial has found success in straying from the norm.
Content is king (or Queen, because we’re all about gender equity in media). People join digital communities that offer them high-quality content. In turn, these communities spark collaboration that might not have otherwise occurred.
Experiment, but at a low cost. No matter how crazy an idea may seem, there’s no knowing until you try it out. Some of DailySocial’s biggest projects were started in a very low-cost, low-stakes way.
Agility matters more than vision. While Rama has a vision and short-term goals for the company, he is wary of planning too far out. You can have all the visions and roadmaps you want, he said, but the world often has other plans (looking at you, Covid).
Context
In late 2008, while still working full-time at his day job, Rama Mamuaya founded DailySocial with the dream of creating the “TechCrunch of Indonesia.” Now, eleven years later, he’s done something much bigger.
Rama has created a media platform where Indonesia’s innovators and enterprise leaders interact through industry research and published content, to hackathons and small events. For the final presentation of Splice Beta, Rama closed out the month with an hour of unique insights and candid thoughts.
What the DailySocial does differently
No advertising. Rama’s decision to drop display advertising in 2014 was perhaps one of the most radical things he’s done at DailySocial. While the decision cost the media company nearly half its revenue, they felt the burden was offset by increased audience trust and a commitment to the organization’s values.
Small, personal events. Instead of pushing large conferences and trade shows that many media companies have gravitated towards, the DailySocial began to offer free weekly small events that helped plant the initial seeds of community early on.
Free research reports. In 2018, the DailySocial launched free bi-monthly research reports focused on anything tech or industry-related. With over 50,000 downloads, these reports have gained such traction that Rama prefers to use their engagement as a measure of impact over more typical indicators like web traffic.
Launched a paid SaaS platform & free data platform. DailySocial also invested in other mediums of engagement. For instance, their SaaS enterprise platform helps companies host and run their own hackathons and incubator events.
“As a media company, we don’t want to be sitting and watching the game happen. We want to be in the field, actively moving the industry forward.”
The three C’s
Content. An organization should never feel the need to compromise on the quality, consistency, or integrity of its content. Nor should there be quotas for how many articles the company or its employees need to deliver. Instead, focus on learning who your community is and delivering valuable information.
Community. DailySocial didn’t originally envision community-building as an integral part of their mission. However, they quickly realized their platform wasn’t just a place to consumer information, but rather a space for the industry as a whole. Rama says they have since embraced community-building and now keep it front-of-mind in everything they do.
Collaboration. Identify consumer pain-points and solve their problems. Spend a lot of time doing extensive research to understand what needs fixing. Then get to work and innovate. Solving problems with strong execution is what earns money.
Work culture
Test every idea. When one of Rama’s employees came to him with an idea for a podcast, he was skeptical. But he gave the employee $50 and a few months to make it work. A couple of years later, the podcast is a chart-topping hit in Indonesia.
A safe space and shared focus. In addition to low-stakes experimentation, the podcast anecdote also demonstrates the importance of building a workplace where everyone is united around a common focus and feels confident in voicing their ideas.
Keep it fun! Rama revealed to us that the DailySocial has a pool in their office. Curious to see how that one translated to remote work...