Dave Finocchio, Founder of Bleacher Report and Co-Founder of The Cool Down on Building Enduring Media Companies

I’m excited to have my new friend Dave Finocchio on the podcast. I met Dave on my golf trip to Ireland, and we hit it off immediately (at least I thought so). He stands out because he’s focused and insanely smart. He’s a founder of the Bleacher Report, which was acquired for north of $200M, and is now working on The Cool Down – his attempt to build a mainstream climate brand. Dave’s taken everything he’s learned in sports and media over the years and is applying it to climate change. 

We have a wide-ranging conversation on what it was like to start a media company back in the day, and what it takes now. We discuss new trends that are emerging in media, like TikTok, his investment in 5-Iron Golf, and a whole lot more. Enjoy!

You can listen to the podcast here on Spotify or Apple podcast and now all the episodes are on my YouTube channel as well. You can click subscribe on any of these channels and get the podcast alert each week.

You can also listen right here on the blog:

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For more details on today’s conversation read on below…

Guest: Dave Finocchio

Profile: Founder of Bleacher Report, Co-founder of The Cool Down

Where to Find Him: LinkedIn, Twitter 

What’s Dave Panicked About? That I’m going to sneeze as much on this podcast as Howard did on our bus in Ireland.

Show Notes:

• Introduction (00:40)
• Welcome Dave (05:44)
• Golf courses in Ireland (08:42)
• The Cool Down (09:58)
• Content needs to resonate (12:33)
• Bringing in co-founders (13:27)
• Dealing with founder burnout (17:25)
• Flash back to the Bleacher report (21:38)
• Seed rounds back in the day (29:54)
• The end of an era (33:56)
• NFL Draft expert Matt Miller (35:45)
• Dave’s thoughts on parenting (37:29)
• Would he do sports media again? (39:05)
• Sports betting (41:02)
• Thoughts on TikTok (42:15)
• Growth – The Cool Down (46:20)
• Investments: Behave Candy (47:46)
• Investments: 5-Iron Golf (47:57)
• Bullish on golf (52:17)
• Closing thoughts (53:02)

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