In the age of the selfie, first responders to remarkable incidents will increasingly be regular people equipped with a smartphone and something interesting to say. We’re seeing this happen more frequently across the world, as major news outlets like BBC and CNN rely on smartphone-shot videos as reliable sources of content. It’s reasonable to project that, in the near future, we will get most of our news from a network of individual contributors - “citizen journalists”, if you will - instead of the mainstream media. Cisco Adler, the CEO and founder of media app Tumbleweed, believes that this is the future of what we currently refer to as “the news.” I had the pleasure of interviewing Cisco and getting his thoughts on generational shifts in news creation and consumption, the challenges and opportunities in creating a media startup, and how Los Angeles has become a startup destination in its own right.
Speak up on issues that matter to you.
Briefly tell me about yourself and the inspiration behind Tumbleweed. What was the problem you wanted to solve in the world, or the opportunity you wanted to create?
I am a serial entrepreneur at this point, but I got my start in the music world. Music was one of the first industries disrupted by the internet, which had a profound effect on me. I realized that technology could be both a destructive and creative force, depending on who has harnessed its power. This was quite evident in the mainstream media in particular, where it seemed that the issues that my generation cared about were largely being ignored or misrepresented. My partner Shaun Neff and I felt that kids were hungry for information, but nobody was telling them the news they cared about in the language they understood. This was the initial spark of inspiration behind this venture.
When I tried Tumbleweed for the first time, my immediate instinct was “this is citizen journalism and could be the future of news” - please share your thoughts on how you think news will be created and shared in the future, and how you think Tumbleweed will play a role in this.
Yes exactly! There has never been a better time for ordinary citizens to share their views on the issues facing them, rather than the media bubble that is our current news cycle. Moreover, we live in the era of a phenomenon called “fake news.” Tumbleweed aims to combat the spread of this problem. We’re providing a platform for real people voicing their authentic opinions on issues that matter to them, while letting others respond with their thoughts. This provides a genuine and personal context on the issues, something that paid pundits can’t deliver due to their obligation to their customer base. We have already seen people broadcasting their opinion from the protests and even had someone on the corner in NYC during that recent bomb scare. This is the future of news!
Break a story as a citizen journalist with Tumbleweed.
Timing is always important in startups. Why is this the right time to launch Tumbleweed? Is it also perhaps generational? Millennials strike me as the right demographic to launch this to.
Timing is everything! We knew we were setting out to do something important and create a tool to cater to this new population. Twenty-somethings are coming of age with a computer in their pockets and ubiquitous internet connectivity. The double edged sword we are is facing is, with such a glut of content out there, it’s impossible to separate signal from noise. How do we know who we can trust? We are also coming off an intensely divided election cycle and people are feeling the need to talk about how they feel and find common ground. This is particularly true of America’s youth, who feel disillusioned and misrepresented by the mainstream media.
Your success will be driven largely by talented individuals stepping up and becoming correspondents who break stories. How are you optimizing for this? How are you identifying talent and making sure they rise above the noise?
Well, for one, we are both curated and dynamic. Our amazing editorial staff is working to pitch stories on topics they believe our audience will be interested in. We also have an automated system identifying our top contributors. Our editorial staff then works with them help amplify their efforts. We think that by fostering an early community of like-minded individuals who are here to share honestly and openly we can ensure the new users experience that and hopefully understand the goal of the medium at large.
A new way to create, produce, and share the news - for a new generation.
Please tell us why you decided to base this startup in Los Angeles. What does LA have going for it as a tech startup destination?
Something special is happening in LA right now. We’re seeing a new breed of startups being born and launched that are quite unique from those in Silicon Valley. If Silicon Valley has traditionally been a technology juggernaut, then LA has traditionally been a powerhouse in entertainment and creative culture. The bay area was definitely responsible for launching the global wave of smartphones and constant connectivity. However, what you’re seeing is that the best practices of San Francisco startups are starting to be combined with the creative forces that make LA unique. As such, we’re seeing a pilgrimage of brilliant young minds to “Silicon Beach” - techie engineers who can build great things who are teaming up with creatives that already thrive in southern California.
Ultimately, LA will never be Silicon Valley. But LA doesn’t have to be Silicon Valley. We have to take what’s useful about technology and use it, as entrepreneurs, to create the types of world-changing ventures that could only happen in LA.