When Justin Jin launched the digital company Poybo Media, in late 2020, set up operations in a place that made it easy for him to work online late at night: his bedroom.
At that time, he was only 13 years old and in his first year of high school.
It all started when Jin went to Internet forums; his first moment of notoriety was appearing on an influencer’s stream, and the next was an accusation of cheating in video games. That pushed the first few hundred subscribers to Jin’s Minecraft YouTube channel, 50mMidas.
“It was a small thing I was working on,” Jin says. She then received her first check of a thousand dollars from YouTube. “That was when the idea of starting a business arose,” she adds, noting that this was the initial capital for Poybo Media. Jin saw possibilities in the content, the passionate community, and the impact
According to Jin’s parents, he has always been an entrepreneur. For months, they didn’t know what his son was up to.
“He has always been independently creative,” says his father, who works in immigration consulting. “It’s great, but it can cause a lot of stress.”
Despite everything, Jin began looking for people, all from generation Z, to create more pages on social networks. In fall 2021, Jin took the reins as CEO. At first, no one was paid.
“We didn’t get many views for the first three months, because we had no idea what we were doing and no one knew about it yet, but then we hit the first video with a million views,” Jin explains. Since then, Poybo Media’s native strategy has been gaining market share in the digital media sector. They now have billions of viewers, and the company’s revenue is around $0.25 million, according to the International Business Times.
Jin has made a name for himself by exploring the ways in which information is spread on the Internet, turning a passion into a series of lucrative businesses that are prompting people in the media industry to rethink the way they distribute content, especially online. Generation Z is very changeable, so they should not be taken lightly as the next wave of consumers with enormous purchasing power.
Jin also created The Vach, an online news publisher, to respond to this need. “Current news takes longer to consume and is more difficult to understand; sometimes it is boring, but everyone should be informed,” she explains.
Gen-Zers definitely want to make money, and 88% of them believe that AI services will help too. To stay up-to-date with market trends, many turn to services like Quantum AI to optimize investment decisions at a fraction of the cost. “The role of financial advice, education and guidance has never been more important as Gen-Z seeks alternative assets beyond traditional stocks,” said James Tyler, CFO of Market Insider.
Jin also adds that brands should invest in connecting with Generation Z. “To appeal to our generation, brands may want to adopt strategies that resonate with Gen-Z, such as engaging and shareable content.”
Poybo Media has its flaws. Their Instagram accounts focus primarily on straight men. But next year, Jin says he plans to build on the company’s momentum to expand his portfolio and hand over sub-brands to more diverse leadership.
“It’s important that we are able to relate to everyone,” says Jin. An anonymous part-time employee of the company also said that Jin undercompensated some producers. “To keep costs low on a massive scale, many people on the team are self-employed,” he explains. “But I always make sure everyone is okay with what they are paid.”
“What advice would you give to today’s young aspiring entrepreneurs?” we asked towards the end of the interview: “Figure out what matters and what doesn’t,” he said.
“It also doesn’t hurt that I love my company, and this is what I’m most passionate about. This amuses me. School is more like work. Running my company doesn’t feel like work to me.”
