EXCLUSIVE: One-Man Juggernaut Viral Nova Is Up For Sale
Social news site Viral Nova is trying to sell.
In an email obtained by Business Insider, Viral Nova is essentially cold-pitching itself to online media companies. Viral Nova is run by one editor, Scott DeLong, and two freelancers. The company is bootstrapped and doesn’t have any outside investors.
DeLong, 31, confirmed in an email to Business Insider that he is “feeling out” potential buyers for Viral Nova with the help of a man named Derek Giordano, a self-employed website domain name broker. DeLong wouldn’t name a price, but did say he’s thinking about selling Viral Nova for “well into seven figures.”
“I’m entertaining a sale of the site. It’s still growing and doing well, but it’s becoming a bit too much for me alone and I don’t really want to go down the path of opening an office, hiring people, etc.,” DeLong wrote.
Giordano’s pitch being sent to media companies says Viral Nova had more than 100 million visits in December and generates “well into six figures” of revenue per month. DeLong would not comment more specifically on the company’s revenue. The site launched in May 2013, so its traffic growth is especially impressive.
Here’s an excerpt of the email Giordano is sending to media companies:
ViralNova.com is a collection of fascinating daily stories that make their way around the web. Each day Viral Nova focuses on emotionally potent or striking stories that will provoke maximum shareability on Facebook and Twitter. This website has grown significantly in a short time, and continues to grow each month.
Here are a few key points about the ViralNova.com:
- Ranks as the 531 largest website in world (according to Alexa.com)
- Over 100,000,000+ visits in December alone (November also eclipsed the 100 million visitor mark)
- 819,000 Facebook likes and growing daily
- Low operating cost, very highly profitable (well into six figures a month)
- 100% of revenue is from Google Adsense. Direct ad sales would dramatically increase revenues.
- Formerly founded and sold Godvine.com (Alexa top 1500) to Salem Communications. Builds quality websites.
- Run by a small team of three (two of which are freelancers).
- Competing with BuzzFeed.com and Upworthy.com in traffic numbers.
- All internally funded. Has declined VC funding.
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