All Things Video

Benjamin Grubbs is the Founder & CEO of Next 10 Ventures, an investment firm that incubates and accelerates new businesses within the global creator economy. Prior to launching Next 10, Ben spent 15 years in Southeast Asia helping to grow the Yahoo! broadcast business, spearheading eBay’s marketing efforts, and leading Turner’s interactive media group. Most recently, he served as the Head of YouTube Kids in APAC and then the Global Head of Top Creator Partnerships for YouTube. Ben and I cover a lot of ground in this wide-ranging conversation, from his experience building commerce and media businesses in APAC to his decision to launch a venture fund focused on the next 10 years of creator-led innovation. We talk about challenging conventional wisdom and using data insights to inform international strategy, how existing infrastructure in the U.S. is at times a barrier to adopting new technologies, and the cultural export value of media. Ben shares lessons learned from Taobao’s success over eBay in China,