This post was significantly updated in June 2025 to reflect new information. An archived version from 2015 is available for reference here.
Back in the mid‑2000s, a blog was still a scrappy side hustle, a place where one obsessive voice could test ideas in the open and maybe, just maybe, build an audience.
Fast‑forward to June 2025 and many of the web’s most recognizable brands trace their origin stories to those lone‑wolf WordPress installs.
Understanding how they scaled from bedroom passion projects to multimillion‑dollar media businesses isn’t just trivia; it’s a living playbook for creators deciding whether today’s newsletter, YouTube channel, or Substack can become tomorrow’s household name.
Below, we revisit five “I‑had‑no‑idea‑that‑started‑as‑a‑blog” success stories.
First, the “Old News”—how each site sprang to life in the blogosphere’s Wild West.
Then the “Recent Updates”—what’s changed by mid‑2025, from ownership shake‑ups to AI labor clauses.
Finally, we distill “What We Can Learn” so modern bloggers can dodge the hype cycles and build something that lasts.
Old News: When Blogs Were Bootstrapped
TechCrunch – Arrington’s Silicon Valley Diary
- Launched June 2005 by Michael Arrington from his Atherton rental, TechCrunch chronicled every hot new startup before Sand Hill Road knew their names.
Mashable – A Teenager’s Scottish Bedroom Project
- Pete Cashmore was 19 and recovering from surgery when he began posting tech‑news riffs to Mashable in July 2005. By 2009 the one‑man blog was pulling eight‑digit monthly pageviews.
Perez Hilton – Gossip Graffiti on PageSixSixSix
- Mario Lavandeira Jr. launched “PageSixSixSix” in 2004, doodling on paparazzi shots and courting controversy that super‑charged traffic. Re‑branded as PerezHilton.com a year later, the site turned couch‑surfing into six‑figure ad deals.
Lifehacker – DIY Efficiency for the Masses
- Gina Trapani’s 2005 side blog about clever work‑arounds (“life hacks”) struck a nerve with burnt‑out office workers and coders alike, quickly spinning into a full‑time editorial team under Gawker Media.
The Huffington Post – ‘Alternative’ Blog‑Tabloid Hybrid
- Arianna Huffington and co‑founders opened HuffPost in 2005 as a group blog mixing politics, celebrity and wellness riffs—an unapologetically opinionated counter‑culture to legacy newsrooms.
Takeaway from the early days: each brand started with a distinct, unmistakable voice—tech insider, social‑media futurist, unapologetic gossip, frugal hacker, progressive provocateur.
Distribution hacks mattered, but differentiation began with tone.
Recent Updates: The 2025 Reality Check
TechCrunch Finds Yet Another Corporate Parent
- After AOL (2010) and Verizon/Yahoo (2015–2024), TechCrunch was sold again in March 2025—this time to private‑equity firm Regent. Editors say Disrupt conferences will stay in‑house while Yahoo retains a small minority stake.
- Audience remains influential but fragmented; the paywalled TC+ subscription now contributes ~30 % of revenue, cushioning ad‑market swings.
Mashable Under Ziff Davis’ Umbrella—and Union Armor
- Ziff Davis grabbed Mashable in a $50 million 2017 firesale. Today the site sees roughly 16 million monthly visits.
- In July 2024, Mashable’s editorial union negotiated “first‑in‑industry” protections: no layoffs or salary cuts tied to generative‑AI adoption.
Perez Hilton: Platform‑Hopping in a Post‑TikTok World
- Hilton’s main site survives, but the brand’s 2025 growth engine is podcasting and YouTube reactions after repeated lifetime bans on TikTok—fans track each short‑lived account like celebrity whack‑a‑mole.
- The pivot keeps Perez visible, yet underlines the risk of building on rented platforms.
Lifehacker 2.0—Sold, Re‑skinned, Still Hacking
- G/O Media off‑loaded Lifehacker to Ziff Davis in March 2023; a full redesign and migration off the aging Kinja CMS followed in November 2023.
- Sister‑site union deal (shared with Mashable) now shields staff from AI‑driven redundancies.
HuffPost’s BuzzFeed Era Hits Turbulence
- BuzzFeed acquired HuffPost in December 2020, hoping for economies of scale. Four years later, BuzzFeed is divesting properties and trimming costs; in January 2025 HuffPost cut about 22% of its newsroom, prompting the EIC’s resignation.
- The union blasted management for “bowing to MAGA” after minority‑stake investor Vivek Ramaswamy questioned the site’s editorial mix.
Through‑line: every one of these former blogs faces the same 2025 headwinds—volatile ad spend, investor impatience, and an AI arms race that threatens jobs as much as it enables efficiency.
What We Can Learn (and Apply) in 2025
- Voice is moat. Each site’s original edge—Arrington’s bluntness, Cashmore’s optimism, Lavandeira’s shock value—still powers brand recall long after ownership and CMS platforms shift. If your blog sounds like everyone else’s, acquisition money won’t save it.
- Own—and diversify—distribution. TechCrunch’s events, Mashable’s newsletters, Perez’s podcasts: secondary channels cushion algo whiplash. Start that email list before you need it.
- Community scales better than traffic. Lifehacker’s enduring forums and HuffPost’s comment culture turned casual readers into repeat contributors—sticky audiences that survive domain migrations.
- Prepare for the AI squeeze. Mashable’s contract shows that editorial labor can push back. Independent creators need their own guardrails (clear disclosure, model choice, revenue share) now rather than after crisis hits.
- Exit isn’t the endgame. A sale can inject capital—or bury a brand inside corporate priorities. Build processes that keep your editorial identity intact whether you sell, merge, or stay indie.
Bottom line: Starting a blog in 2025 is still a viable path—as long as you treat it like a laboratory for distinctive thinking, not a placeholder for programmatic ads. Ten years from now, someone will write an update to this piece. The creators who survive will be the ones who keep evolving without abandoning the ethos that drew readers in the first place.
