Betches Media started in 2011 as a blog focused on millennial women. As Instagram gained traction, its three co-founders—Aleen Dreksler, Jordana Abraham and Samantha Sage— shifted to building a presence on the app. That paid off in terms of followers, which now number more than 8 million on its main account. But the experience drove home a lesson many creators have learned over the last few years: You can’t be too dependent on social platforms, which make constant changes to algorithms and features.
“We cannot control—especially as they fight each other—the social platforms,” Betches CEO Dreksler said in an interview. The company, which has avoided big VC funding, found itself constantly trying to keep up with new Instagram features. “Every time there was a new product, [such as disappearing] Stories, we were just like, ‘We must be on Stories,’” she said.
