The Breads Interviews Anum Hussain
The co-founder of Below The Fold talks to us about what media can do better
This is the interview series from The Breads entitled “Cool People. Heck Yes!” where I interview people that I think are interesting (and hopefully you will too) about what they do (which makes them interesting) but also ask them whatever random shit I’m feeling at the moment to help paint a picture of who they are. As always, you can and should sign up for the newsletter here.
This week we have Anum Hussain. Anum is the co-founder of Below the Fold, a newsletter focused on underreported news that is important but not making headlines. In the past Anum worked as a correspondent for The Boston Globe, worked in product and growth at Hubspot, got an MBA from MIT Sloane and also held positions at Rough Draft Ventures and Snapchat. She’s been quite busy at the intersection of news, content and tech for a while now and and has some really great insights on the media space. The following interview was conducted over Slack. Continue reading to get Anum’s thoughts on how the media industry is failing people, how to think about brand evolution and which painter’s work she would choose to have in her home.
Professional Things
First question is very much a softball. tell us who you are and what you do?
Anum Hussain here, co-founder at Below the Fold, a newsletter helping you discover news you aren’t hearing anywhere else. Started my career as a journalist (Boston Globe) before pivoting to tech (HubSpot) and am now marrying my careers together through a media startup. Went to business school (MIT Sloan) along the way, which is how I met my now co-founder!
So what was the impetus behind starting Below the Fold then? Aside from the fact that it was a marriage of your two past careers.
We first started as a tech company called Acciyo, where we used AI to help readers get historic context on the news they were reading. Along the way we started our newsletter to engage those users, but found it was growing faster, completely organically, and cost half to operate, so after some feedback from users we rebranded to Below the Fold with a 100% focus on the newsletter.
My co-founder, Vivian, and I are passionate about helping people of all backgrounds and socio economic classes have access to valuable, clear, news that informs their world. Below the Fold helps serve this purpose while serving any reader who is tired of seeing the same homepage headlines. Though we hope to bring back our tech in the future, perhaps as a premium offering to the newsletter.
Got it. That's rad. Yeah what are the biggest ways you find that the media industry is failing people right now?
Two ways: paywalls and repeat coverage.
On paywalls, it’s extremely difficult for everyone to afford news. Most readers we talk to pay for at least one source, but can’t afford to spend upwards of $100 a month subscribing to every news source they come across. This further excludes people of low income backgrounds, preventing them from being able to actually learn. We in that way make news a luxury for the wealthy.
On repeat coverage, news sources are fighting for clicks on the same stories, which leads to lots of industry $ waste. We have hundreds of journalists across the country all reporting the same exact events. Most articles are nearly identical at this point, especially since their base source is the AP. If as an industry there could be some way to reduce that collective waste, we could reroute all that money to varied reporting and other channels that might even alleviate the need to have such strict paywalls.
It’s why our values at Below the Fold are to remain a free newsletter that gives anyone access to information, while focusing on the stories that aren’t getting lots of attention. There’s so much more happening in the world we miss.
Since it seems "regular news" has a lot of redundancy in that they are all reporting on the same things, what sort of coverage do you think is drastically underreported?
It kind of varies week-by-week, depending on what is making news that week. For example, the same week as something or another Trump was up to and making headlines, the Afghanistan Papers were released, which was an entire series after years of work detailing the failed war and how much money the U.S. lost. Most people I spoke with that week had no idea, because of Trump dominating the conversation.
This pattern happens every week. More regularly though, we miss local stories that have national impact and international stories. The U.S. is primarily focused on U.S. reporting, unlike, for example, Europe, that is aware of both European, U.S., and other international views. This can really limit our perspective of the world if the only time we write about international affairs is when something tragic happens.
Yeah that's a really interesting way to think about it. What about for things that aren't necessarily hard or breaking news? How can readers do better to ensure they are getting a worldly view of things?
Haha well I’m biased but I obviously think the best way is to read Below the Fold. We’re a 100% non-breaking news newsletter, so we do the hard work of digging up all that content for you.
Any other places you think do a good job?
For me, it’s most often: Random, niche areas of Facebook (I like to look for all the stories getting no engagement there), Vox, Vice, Washington Post, Newser, and some niche content creators on Instagram.
After starting this business and running it for a bit, what's something you would do differently if you had it to do over? If you can make this broadly applicable so that people can use this insight for whatever projects they are working on, even better, but not a necessity.
For consumer products, a laser-focus on community growth. Our past few months with a full-time focus on our newsletter has generated more business value than our past three years trying to get users for our product. So much of what people try these days is through communities they trust and feel an association with.
Stress less about initial brand, and more about brand evolution. This isn’t necessarily something I was concerned with, but have learned how important it is for your brand to reflect the people it serves. We recently did a complete design overhaul, all pulling from our experiences running the business to this point and hearing from readers. It’s not one we could have ever thought up on day 0.
What do you think you've personally improved at since running your own business that has helped you be better at, well, running your own business?
I think our renewed focus made me realize how much more passionate about our current direction I am than I ever was about the work we were doing before. And I think a big part of that is because I actually know what I’m doing now. Let me explain:
It’s definitely seen as exciting to start a startup right out of school. I was in a slightly different boat by having worked for five years and gone to grad school. Despite all these experiences, I never ran a tech business myself, so was constantly coming across new problems I had to figure out. But now that we’re a content company, everything seems possible. That’s what I spent 9 years doing, in newsrooms and tech companies, and am working off of a place of expertise AND passion versus just passion. That makes such a dramatic difference to your mental health, and keeps you pushing to constantly achieve more. At least in my case.
I guess in a few words the lesson is: Founder mental health is critical. Leaders need to invest in being their best selves, because that will seep into everything from the energy you give to your work to your team to your investors and beyond.
I guess kinda going off your last answer, what is something you do when you're stressed, that helps you not be stressed anymore?
Run! Been a runner since high school track, and even a 10-minute run can wildly change my mood and energy levels.
Personal Things
Ok this is a staple for the series, you get three cuisines for the rest of your life, what are they?
Shrimp Drunken Noodles, Spicy Tuna on Crispy Rice, and Aloo Gosht (Potato & Goat Curry, a Pakistani dish my mama makes incredibly well). Oh wait cuisine not dishes. Thai, Sushi, Pakistani.
Hahah i'll include both to let people know you answer the super hard questions.
Now I’m Hungry
If you could buy a painting from any artist who would it be? If you have a particular painting in mind which one?
Aadil Abedi, he does varying styles so really any of them. Amazing artist.
What is a place that everyone likes but you don't like?
Insomnia Cookies. I find it very overrated.
What are your thoughts on the various forms of electronic music?
What do you mean?
Do you like it, hate it, love it. I said various forms in case you were like "I hate EDM, but I really fuck with techno"or something like that.
Oh. I’m indifferent. Not my go to, but I’ll listen.
Got it, what is your go to?
Bollywood music. Or anything Beyonce.
Gotta figure out how to combine them
Hahaha. There’s some remixes out there.
Ok what's one piece of advice someone has given you that has always stuck with you?
Success is the best revenge. Just a reminder that being petty or engaging in arguments can often lead nowhere, but focusing on your grind will lead to a fulfillment that feels better than anything else you could spend your energy on
Lastly this is a forum for you, so feel free to say whatever you want to the readers out there about anything you want
Give love to your local news sources, they need us more than ever! Editor’s Note: And subscribe to Below the Fold. It’s honestly really good. You can connect with Anum on Linkedin or Twitter.
As always if you know some ballers who you think would be good for this series holler at me.
If You Like This Sign Up For The Newsletter, Friend