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Covering positive news and

innovation happening now + the

radical transformation coming next

Eric Berlin | eric@forwerdmedia.com | 626.372.0778

MISSION STATEMENT

Next Form is a media company focused on

good news and societal transformation in the

wake of the coronavirus pandemic:

• Science, tech, healthcare innovation

• Remote work success stories

• Adapting in communicating, entertaining

ourselves

• How humans touch everything, interact is

radically changing

2

The IDEA

started here

- Tweet from Josh Brown (1.1M followers)

3

Next Form evolved from CONVERSATIONS

• Tech reporter Christopher Mims (Wall Street Journal) is very

supportive of Next Form, sees need for "solutions journalism"

• Paul Olund, digital publishing expert (LA Times, USA Today,

Bing) pushed idea of radical transformation: coronavirus is

changing every touchpoint humans have

• Paul Orlando (USC accelerator director) helped shape strategy

and joined Next Form as an advisor

4

Next Form evolved fromOBSERVING

Many are addicted

to bad news, losing

sleep, feeling exhausted,

getting depressed.

5

Next Form

evolved

from DATA

News consumption is way, way up (NYT)

• +47% minutes per day

• +57% overall visits

• Y/Y audience growth: USA Today +30%, Hearst

Magazine sites +33%

• 57.5% increase in new U.S. news subscriptions

versus average

• Vox podcast downloads +50% versus average

6

Next Form ”BEATS"• Tech & Innovation

• Science & Healthcare

• Entertainment & Living

• Work & Collaboration

• Human Interaction &

Transformation

7

What we COVER

• Success stories about companies working remotely

• Improvements in test kits,

tracing methodologies, healthcare treatments

• How we adapt to living in quarantine, protecting

ourselves, communicating, seeking entertainment

• How we approach the post-quarantine world: back

outside, back together, back to work

• Radical societal and environmental change: corona

virus impacts every interaction point that involves

humans from now on

8

Where we PRODUCE Next Form• WEB

• Longform original reporting, interviews

• Shorter, punchy pieces

• Newsletter acquisition, cross-promo

• NEWSLETTERS

• Scales to multiple beats, audience segments

• PODCASTS & VIDEO

• Distribution on web, YouTube, podcast

platforms, social web

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The Team• Founder / publisher / operations

• Managing editor with deep journalism background

• 12+ freelance contributors

• Podcast / video producer

• UX / technology consultant

• Marketing / growth consultant

The Advisors• Paul Orlando – Director, accelerator at

University of Southern California

• Amy Denton – Certified Registered

Nurse Anesthetist, Harborview Hospital, Seattle

How we PRODUCE Next Form10

WHY ME?

Writer, entrepreneur,

product person.

Background in startups,

media companies,

digital publishing.

Helped run startup

Blogcritics: managed

editorial team & writing

community of 2,000+

bloggers, product, biz

dev. Acquired by

Technorati.

Product, content,

community roles at Los

Angeles Times/Tribune

Publishing, Getty

Images, Internet

Brands, REI , automotive

media startup High

Gear Media.

Published TV

news/reviews site Alert

Me TV, recruited and

managed 50+

contributors.

Currently, publish The

Berlin Files, weekly

newsletter of 3-4k

words, covers media,

tech, pop culture,

politics.

I care deeply

about improving the

world through tech,

community, common

ideals. I 'm passionate

about spotlighting how

the world is changing

for the better.

11

Launching

Next Form

• Web – nextform.news runs on SubStack, ideal platform for

newsletters, subscriptions monetization

• Newsletters – The Berlin Files (1.5 years old) becomes Next

Form's flagship newsletter

• Podcasts & Video – includes Radical Next Formation

podcast, In the House (shifts in work, play, interaction)

• Operations – distributed team WFH until quarantine lifts

• Recruit – quality content contributors highest priority

• PR – leverage media relationships to get word out

• Marketing – actively post to social, build presence

12

How will people FIND Next Form?

• Social media – find people where they are: Twitter,

LinkedIn, FB, Insta, Reddit, TikTok, Snap

• PR / earned media – drives awareness, high quality links

• SEO – unique content niche helps grow organic traffic

• SEM / paid social – invest in growing audience

• Google News – direct traffic, supports SEO

• Blogs / web magazines – news, politics, culture, tech pubs

will cover Next Form

• Word of mouth – lens on positive news, radical

transformation drives offline conversations

• Podcasts – will be made available on iOS, Google Play,

Spotify, Stitcher, etc.

• Video – YouTube, other video destinations drive brand

awareness, direct visits, revenue

13

Making MONEY

• Subscriptions – high quality content across web,

newsletters (with zero click bait) will drive engagement and

paid subscription growth

• Sponsorships – brands will associate with Next Form's

positive, independent coverage and connect with a smart,

upscale audience

• Donations – people support mission-driven news orgs that

resonate with their values

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How BIG can this get?

• The Ringer acquired by Spotify for "between $400 million and $500 million" (TechCrunch)

• Gimlet Media acquired by Spotify "for more than $200 million" (Recode)

• How to Fly for Free "makes more than $320,000 per month" (gaps)

• U.S. digital subscriptions growth is skyrocketing, up 63% W/W as of March 24th, 2020 (Digiday)

• Even publications dropping their paywall for coronavirus coverage seeing massive subscriber

growth. Ex: The Atlantic, Bloomberg (Digiday)

In short: BIG.

15

Thank You!

Contact:

eric@forwerdmedia.com

626.372.0778

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