through the Mic website and through social media. This content is supplemented with advertorial videos produced for clients. Writing for Forbes in 2014, Abe Brown described PolicyMic's style as hyperbolic, with a mix of serious analysis of issues and attention-seeking listicles. Brown grouped the site with Upworthy, BuzzFeed, and BusinessInsider as opposed to more conventional news media such as The New York Times and The Washington Post. In an effort to improve Mic's editorial quality, the company recruited Cory Haik as publisher, and Kerry Lauerman as executive editor, both from The Post. The site sometimes enlists politician and celebrity contributors; these have included Senator Rand Paul, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and radio host Daisy Rosario. In December 2013, the White House worked with Mic on what was called an "Open Mic" competition to "make health care work for our generation". Funding and revenue Mic generates revenue through advertising known as "branded content". Digiday.com reported in November 2014 that "brands like Microsoft, Cole Haan, Cadillac and most recently GE have all tapped Mic in the last few months in the hopes of using its millennial expertise to reach the site's audience of educated 20-somethings". The New York Observer positively reacted to the company's financial practices in 2014, saying that Mic had not made a profit and "is in the increasingly rare habit of actually paying each one of its contributors". As of April 2017, the company had raised $52 million in funding from investors, including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Lerer Ventures, Advancit Capital, Red Swan Ventures, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Time Warner Investments, Kyu Collective and You & Mr Jones. The company has not disclosed its valuation, though The Wall Street Journal reported in April 2017 that it was “in the range of the ‘mid hundreds of millions’ of dollars.” The company laid off several employees in late 2017, as did other digital media companies. Inconsistencies in tracking viewer numbers, changes in Facebook's algorithms and advertising rates, and an overemphasis on search-friendly text stories were all cited as partial reasons. The company shifted business models, with less content being produced overall in favor of longer-form video journalism covering social justice and progressive causes. Business Insider cited the company's strategy as an example of the "pivot to video" idea common among digital media companies during that time. See also Mashable References External links 2011