Kin Community -- My Interview with CEO Michael Wayne of the “Quiet" MCN for Women

Kin Community -- a leading women’s lifestyle MCN (in fact, they bill themselves as being "the #1 women’s community"), but have you heard of them?

Chances are, “no."  But, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t know them.  It may just mean that this MCN's story is a bit more difficult to tell.  

I recently sat down with founder & CEO Michael Wayne at the company’s beautiful offices in Santa Monica, California -- very near the offices of fellow MCN Tastemade (which I recently profiled).  And, I learned a lot in our time together ... and was impressed by his thoughtful, disciplined and, yes, humble approach to his overall business.

First, here are some facts that may make Kin Community’s pitch more challenging and less easily “hype-able":

(1) Kin is a rarer kind of MCN “animal” -- unlike a purely style/beauty-focused MCN like StyleHaul (which has long-rumored to be in M&A “play” as we speak), Kin Community covers multiple vertical lifestyles for women (food, health & fitness, beauty & style, parenting, home, and entertainment).  This means its overall story is, by definition, less focused and easily “pitch-able”;

(2) it is significantly smaller than mega-MCNs like Maker Studios (acquired by Disney for up to $1 billion) and Fullscreen (acquired by Otter Media for a deal rumored to value the company for up to $300 million).  In fact its scale is about 1/10th that and more Big Frame-like (acquired by AwesomenessTV for $15 million).  Nonetheless, Kin is certainly larger than other leading MCNs who have a bigger spotlight.  Kin now reaches 25 million subscribers (about half of whom subscribe to one channel -- “The Ellen Show”, as in Degeneres), with over 207 million monthly views, and over 4.3 billion lifetime video views.  In other words, its reach is real; 

(3) the company launched in 2007, practically a different generation and vintage from most leading press-proven MCNs.  This genealogy is very important to understand, because let’s not forget the impact (both financial and psychological) of the Great Crash of 2008 on all entrepreneurs who pre-dated that crash.  Unlike post-Crash MCN babies like StyleHaul, Kin had to weather the storm -- which meant that it needed to deploy its cash conservatively, much more conservatively than the speed of deployment of most MCNs today.  In the words of Michael Wayne, “we are recession children” -- and, that fact clearly has made a lasting impression on him and how he runs his company.  As a result, Kin’s steady growth over time may be less “exciting” than younger MCNs who have jumped higher and faster (even if some of those may be doing so with less compelling financial results).  Let’s face it -- the press (and investors) always prefer the young upstart with $0 revenues that can scale to infinity and beyond;

(4) the company’s CEO, Michael Wayne, doesn’t seemingly actively court the press or seek the limelight.  But, he is a proven entrepreneur who really knows his business -- he just may approach it in a more deliberate fashion for the reasons discussed above;

(5) the company caters to a slightly older female demographic -- certainly older than StyleHaul’s.  62% of Kin's viewers are between the ages of 18-52 (by the way, 74% of all viewers are women).  As such, it is not as much of a “millennial” play as most of the others.  After all, youth sells;

(6) Kin, at least for now and unlike most other MCNs, is content to live on top of YouTube’s platform and not chase other distribution platforms.  Kin, unlike others, is also generally content with its ad and branded-content and sponsored business model.  While Kin ultimately may syndicate and “upstream” more of its original content, unlike StyleHaul, don’t expect direct commerce opportunities here anytime soon; and

(7) unlike virtually all other major MCNs that feature hundreds and usually thousands of video creators, this MCN features only 90 or so (the most of important of which is “The Ellen Show”).  Fewer creators, personalities and channels mean fewer personalities to hype the overall story itself.

But, less hype doesn’t translate immediately into being any less impressive.  And, here’s why:

(1) the company has actually attained stand-alone and ongoing profitability (on a long-term basis);

(2) it also just recently closed a significant Series C round of $12 million in financing to further diversify its channel line-up and significantly accelerate its scale, particularly internationally -- not by the blue chip kind of “usual suspect” MCN investors that we have come to expect, but instead by stealth international strategics (led by Canadian media company Corus Entertainment) who can further accelerate the company’s “quiet" global growth; and

(3) the company’s relationships with its brand partners run deep and frequently extend for years.  Take Target.  Target is the reason Michael Wayne and his team targeted the more mature women’s market in 2007 in the first place.  And, Target remains its biggest sponsor today.

Kin Community.  Certainly not the hare.  But, not necessarily the tortoise either.  

Perhaps just a company in the MCN space that has already demonstrated a real, long-term stand-alone business model.

Kind of quaint.  Definitely a bit quiet.  But now ready to amplify its voice.