The Story Behind The $1.5B Pornhub Curse
About This Episode
Shaan Puri tells the epic story of the rise and fall of the Pornhub empire, from its bootstrapped origins by Canadian college students to its multi-million dollar sales and the regulatory 'curse' that followed its owners. They also discuss the original founders' second act, Valsoft, which became a billion-dollar 'Berkshire Hathaway for internet companies' by rolling up niche software businesses.
Episode Description
Show Notes
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Key Takeaways
Be highly selective about which projects you work on because any system can be optimized to infinity, but not all optimizations are worth your life's energy.
The 'Constellation Software' model of acquiring small, profitable vertical SaaS companies with $5-10M in revenue remains one of the most effective ways to build a massive conglomerate.
Market dominance in a high-traffic niche often comes from vertical integration—owning both the distribution platform and the content production simultaneously.