The audio and video are in Spanish. These notes are a translation.
Today I spoke with Gustavo Morandé, founder and CEO of Zapping, an online TV platform with +200,000 paying subscribers. In 2023, they reached $20M in sales and raised a total round of $10M, of which 15% was raised through crowdfunding, attracting 517 investors.
Youtube Timestamps*
[1:37] - Television Industry
Gustavo has been highly critical of traditional television, which led him to launch Zapping.
- What aspects of the television world led him to seek to change the industry with Zapping?
Traditional television remains culturally relevant despite the many entertainment options, such as streaming, social media, and video games.
- How does Gustavo see the future of television over the next 10 to 20 years?
- How does he imagine the future of entertainment and Zapping’s place in this ecosystem?
In a world where personalized content is abundant, whether created by users or by artificial intelligence, Zapping is looking for a unique approach.
- What does Zapping have to do at the product level to stay relevant in this era of abundant content?
In the U.S. “streaming wars,” consumers benefited, but competition is still led by global giants.
- How does Zapping compete with and differentiate itself from the major streaming platforms?
[20:06] - How to Grow a Subscription Business
With more than 200,000 paying subscribers, Zapping has reached significant scale in a competitive market.
- What lessons has Gustavo learned about how to scale a subscription business in Latin America?
- What were the most effective growth strategies for Zapping in its early stages?
Subscription businesses often face an uncontrolled rise in the cost of acquiring customers as they scale.
- How has Zapping dealt with this challenge?
- What role do offline and online channels play in its growth strategy?
[33:35] - How to Do Marketing
Gustavo trusts instinct more than market research when developing marketing ideas.
- How does Gustavo arrive at marketing campaigns that are “good” and effective?
- Why does he prefer not to work with agencies or hire traditional marketing profiles?
Zapping has managed to create a brand with personality and a fan base in an industry with brands of questionable reputation.
- What have been the key lessons for building a brand that stands out and connects emotionally with users?
- How does Zapping amplify word-of-mouth marketing?
[44:23] - Leadership and Culture
Gustavo has talked about finding the balance between micromanaging and giving total freedom.
- How does Gustavo handle the balance between being in the details and letting his team have flexibility and autonomy?
Episode Mentions
You can find Gustavo on LinkedIn
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