PornHub's Student Origins
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A story about how PornHub was created, grew to massive scale, and changed ownership multiple times while facing various challenges.
In 2005, three college students in Canada met at a competitive foosball tournament. The best foosball player, who was also the best programmer, created a live streaming video website for their foosball competitions. While building the video technology, they realized they could apply it to adult content.
Initially, they had created directory sites with links to other websites. After seeing YouTube's success, they decided to create their own video platform. They launched two companies: PornHub for hosting videos and Brazzers for producing content. Nobody knew these companies were linked - they even publicly claimed they were enemies.
The business grew rapidly to 250 employees. They were making millions of dollars but became paranoid as challenges mounted. The government seized $9 million from their bank accounts. They hired 24/7 security and were followed by black-tinted SUVs. The main programmer quit, saying it was too stressful.
They sold the company for $140 million to Fabian Thylmann, who doubled profits within 3-6 months. However, Thylmann later faced tax issues and had to sell for $77 million in a fire sale.
The story took another turn when Bill Ackman got involved after reading about content moderation issues. He pressured Visa and Mastercard to cut off payment processing until the company implemented stricter policies.
The company was then acquired by Ethical Capital Partners, a private equity group formed specifically to buy PornHub. They remain the current owners, though the site continues to face various challenges and scrutiny.
Sam Parr
Host of MFM and fitness influencer
Sam Parr is a serial entrepreneur and business media pioneer.
In 2016, he founded The Hustle, a business news media company that started in his kitchen with just $12 and grew to eight figures in revenue.
Sam led the charge in making newsletters popular when few believed in their potential.
After four successful years, he sold The Hustle to HubSpot, a publicly traded company. Now operating as HubSpot Media, The Hustle reaches 3 million readers daily, employs a team of nearly 100, and has been the launchpad for dozens of its staff to found their own media companies and newsletters.
Sam remains the host of the popular business podcast, My First Million, and continues to start and sell companies. He also co-founded Hampton, a highly vetted community for entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs, and teaches people to write better through his platform, Copy That.