{"data":{"type":"company_profile","id":139482,"entity_id":"wefunder:company:139482","attributes":{"canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette","generated_at":"2026-06-04T02:13:19Z","updated_at":"2026-06-03T18:09:01Z","entity_ids":{"company":"wefunder:company:139482","slug":"wefunder:company_slug:zette"},"profile_visibility":{"owner_published":true,"public_search_results":true,"site_search_listed":true,"privacy_mode":"promote","invite_only":false},"provenance":{"source":"wefunder_public_company_profile","as_of":"2026-06-04T02:13:19Z","claims":{"total_amount_raised":{"source":"FrontCompanySummary#amount_raised","last_verified_at":"2026-06-03T18:09:01Z","as_of":"2026-06-04T02:13:19Z","confidence":"high"},"total_investors":{"source":"FrontCompanySummary#number_of_investors","last_verified_at":"2026-06-03T18:09:01Z","as_of":"2026-06-04T02:13:19Z","confidence":"high"},"active_raise_states":{"source":"Fundraise.visible(nil, nil)","last_verified_at":"2026-05-07T21:41:13Z","as_of":"2026-06-04T02:13:19Z","confidence":"high"},"latest_fundraise_state":{"source":"Fundraise.visible(nil, nil).order(funding_started_at)","last_verified_at":"2026-05-07T21:41:13Z","as_of":"2026-06-04T02:13:19Z","confidence":"medium"}}},"company":{"id":139482,"entity_id":"wefunder:company:139482","slug":"zette","name":"Zette","tagline":"Knocking down paywalls to provide your news, your way","story":"If you recognize this screen, you’re one of a billion people who hit paywalls every day.Paywalls have a 99.7% bounce rate, leading to a global epidemic of clickbait, misinformation, and fake news.Now imagine surfing the internet paywall-free.Zette magically drops paywalls from articles with just one click. Our revolutionary pay-per-article model lets you legally unlock paywalled news, giving you access to over 100 publishers with a single subscription.Our world-class team comes from Harvard, MIT and the Quebec AI Institute.We're experts across media (Forbes, Digital Trends), tech (Twitter, Entelo), startups (Classhook, Below the Fold) and AI research (ServiceNow, MILA).Together we're well-equipped to build the future of online content consumption.Our underlying competitive advantage is our extensive network of publishers.We’ve secured 110 publishers, ranging from Forbes to New Scientist to Pulitzer-Prize-winning local news outlets like the Miami Herald.We're one of the only companies in the world to close this caliber of deals with publishers—giving us a massive competitive advantage.Each unlocked article saves readers money, pays accredited journalists, and generates revenue for us.Similar to Netflix or Spotify, we share revenue with our media partners through licensing agreements, with expected future margins averaging 50%.Pricing starts at $9.99 per month for 30 articles, and scales up from there. For every article unlocked, a portion goes back to newsrooms—so that every time you read, a journalist gets paid.We're first movers in an untapped market, and we're growing—fast.50,000+ readers have already signed up.If our 5x growth rate from 2023 continues into the future, then we’re on track to grow our readership to a quarter million by the end of 2024 and 1 million by the end of 2025.Unlike news tech 1.0 companies, we're ushering in a new era of innovation.No existing model of content consumption perfectly captures what we do, and innovation in this industry has been stagnant for a long time.Almost all of our competitors were founded in the 2010's, and none of them directly address the consumer paywall pain point we're tackling with Zette.We've raised from top venture capital firms and refined our model through multiple accelerators.We've also received coverage and accolades from across the internet.The future of news consumption is intelligent, fact-checked, and personalized. We're building that future with Zette AI.We were just accepted into the 2024 cohort of AI startups at the MILA Institute, the world's largest academic research institution for deep learning.Thanks to resources and support from MILA, we're currently in the R\u0026amp;D phase of our core AI innovation, centering around a four-part algorithm that can recommend, summarize, interact with, and contextualize the news.Our 1st acquisition is already paving the way.In December 2023 we acquired Below the Fold from parent company Acciyo—a startup founded out of MIT that uses AI to bridge the widening gap between reading the news and understanding it.Acciyo scans thousands of news sites, employs machine learning and natural language processing to identify key topics, entities, and metadata, and generates an AI-powered timeline that provides helpful context behind news stories.We aim to integrate Acciyo's core technology into Zette AI, which would be a major step in simplifying and contextualizing the news reader’s experience.For us, journalism is just the beginning.At Zette, our mission is to democratize access to information across the internet. We plan to scale our pay-per-view model beyond journalism, expanding across digital content including e-books, academic journals, podcasts, shows and more.Our go-to-market strategy is to service consumers, businesses, and universities, making knowledge accessible to everyone. Ultimately we are targeting a venture-scale outcome (100x return) in the next 10 years with the end goal of an IPO.If you share our vision of a future where information can be accessible to everyone, and our belief that we'll be the ones to do it—then we invite you to join the Zette revolution on Wefunder today.FAQHow does investing work?(1)\u0026nbsp;Join Wefunder. Click ‘Sign Up’ in the top right corner using your email address.(2)\u0026nbsp;Choose an amount you’re comfortable investing. You can commit any amount you’d like, starting from $250\u0026nbsp;up to your legal max. (3) Confirm investment amount. When the campaign ends, the funds will be deposited to Zette. If we exceed our maximum allotment of $1.235m, we’ll have to refund some investments (more on refunds below).What happens if the $1.235m maximum allotment is exceeded?We can’t exceed $1.235m. If we become oversubscribed, we may need to refund you some or all of your investment amount. We will aim to give a $1,000 USD allocation or more to active Zette customers, but if we have too much interest in the round, then we may need to reduce the allocation.What is the minimum investment?The minimum check size is $250 USD.What's the maximum I am legally allowed to invest?Through Regulation Crowdfunding everyone can invest up to $2,500. How much you're able to invest above that depends on your net income and net worth. You can see how much you're allowed to invest by adding those two numbers under \"Investor Limits\" here:\u0026nbsp;https://wefunder.com/settingsDo I need to be an accredited investor?No. Wefunder allows you to invest without being an accredited investor. All you have to do is sign up and invest.Do I have to do anything for Zette as an investor?No. All you do is invest.\u0026nbsp;When will my investment leave my account?If you fund your\u0026nbsp;Wefunder Cash\u0026nbsp;account, your funds will move from your account immediately, similar to online shopping. You'll also be able to pay via bank account, wire transfer, credit card, or check.Once you confirm your investment, the funds you invest are permanently deposited into Zette via Wefunder once our campaign closes. This is irreversible and confirmed investments cannot be refunded.For other questions, please check out\u0026nbsp;Wefunder's FAQs\u0026nbsp;or\u0026nbsp;contact\u0026nbsp;support@wefunder.com.","location":"San Francisco, CA","website":"https://www.zette.ai/","total_amount_raised":448748,"total_investors":475,"is_funded":true,"is_active":true,"quality_score":4,"related_urls":["https://wefunder.com/zette","https://www.zette.ai/"]},"media":{"share_image_url":"https://uploads.wefunder.com/uploads/company/header_media_photo/139482/xxl_blob.jpg","logo_url":"https://uploads.wefunder.com/uploads/company/logo/139482/large_blob.png","header_media_url":"https://uploads.wefunder.com/uploads/company/header_media_photo/139482/standard_blob.jpg","cover_photo_url":"https://uploads.wefunder.com/uploads/company/header_media_photo/139482/standard_blob.jpg"},"links":{"company_url":"https://www.zette.ai/","linkedin_url":"https://linkedin.com/company/zette/","twitter_url":"https://twitter.com/zettemedia?lang=en","facebook_url":"https://facebook.com/zetteai/","instagram_url":"https://instagram.com/zette.ai/","youtube_url":"https://youtube.com/@zettemedia"},"highlights":[{"id":62736,"name":"notable_angel","url":"notableangel","presentable_name":"Notable Angel","description":"Raised $25k or more from a notable angel investor","image_url":"https://uploads.wefunder.com/2021/profile-highlights-check.svg"}],"quick_facts":[{"index":1,"claim_id":"claim-fact-1","value":"50,000+ registered readers with a 5x YoY growth rate"},{"index":2,"claim_id":"claim-fact-2","value":"110 publisher deals incl. 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THANK YOU ✨💫 [Our Last Wefunder Post]","preview":"Hi all,Our community round is officially closed!\u0026nbsp;A huge THANK YOU to everyone who has made our campaign possible!!! With $1M+ raised and over 500 new investors onboard, it’s hard to fathom how far we’ve come in just eight short weeks.While our community round has come to an end, Zette’s next chapter is just beginning. We’re committed to delivering on our promise to revolutionize the media landscape—and with your support behind us, we’re eager to get back to work.This is our last public u...","published_at":"2024-05-01T22:11:27Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/173199","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/173199"},{"id":173089,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:173089","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"⏳ Last Call While We’re Live: Final Hours to Invest in Zette on Wefunder ⏳","preview":"Hi everyone,This will be our final reminder: Zette’s round closes TODAY at 11:59 PM ET/ 8:59 PM PT!Our campaign closes in 4 hours, meaning this is your last opportunity to join us as an investor on Wefunder. Once the deadline passes, we won't be able to accept any more investments, and we may never do a community fundraising round again.\u0026nbsp;If you've ever considered being a part of our journey, it’s now or never.As our campaign ends tonight, we wanted to take one final moment to share our ...","published_at":"2024-04-30T00:16:15Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/173089","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/173089"},{"id":173065,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:173065","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"⏰ Zette’s Crowdfunding Campaign Closing TODAY at 11:59 PM EST / 8:59 PM PST! ⏰","preview":"Hi all,This is it! Our campaign closes 🛎️TODAY 🛎️—this is your absolute LAST chance to become a Zette investor on Wefunder! Once the deadline passes, we won't be able to accept any more investments, and our focus will shift entirely to building Zette as a company.In case you missed our webinar with Alex Wang last week, we've uploaded a recording on our Youtube channel here! Check it out to learn more about the investment opportunity that Zette presents and how you can get involved in our inve...","published_at":"2024-04-29T16:24:34Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/173065","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/173065"},{"id":172947,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:172947","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"Round Extended: Invest in Zette before new April 29th Deadline! 🚀","preview":"Hi everyone,\u0026nbsp;Happy Friday! Due to popular demand, WeFunder has agreed to extend our close date by 3 days! For all you late birds, this now means you have a few extra days to secure your investment in our round and join us on this incredible journey.\u0026nbsp;We now officially close on April 29th at 11:59 PM ET / 8:59 PM PT.\u0026nbsp;This extension offers a fantastic opportunity for those who may have needed a bit more time to finalize their decision. We're so grateful for all the support we've r...","published_at":"2024-04-26T22:25:16Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/172947","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/172947"},{"id":172905,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:172905","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"Zette’s Round Closes in 24 Hours! + Register for our Media x AI Webinar 📢","preview":"Hi everyone,It’s hard to believe that we’re closing our round in just 24 hours…!As our Wefunder journey comes to a close, we wanted to reflect on all that we’ve gained by launching our first-ever equity crowdfunding campaign.\u0026nbsp;From the late nights we’ve spent navigating learning curves, to the pitch events and press accolades we’ve received along the way, to the overwhelming support of our community rising up to meet us…it’s been an honor to be able to share our journey with you.This is t...","published_at":"2024-04-25T17:16:56Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/172905","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/172905"},{"id":172897,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:172897","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"Startup Grind Day 3/3: Zette Pitches at Global Conference 2024","preview":"Hi all,Today was the day that Zette officially exhibited and pitched at Startup Grind’s 2024 Global Conference!We woke up at the crack of dawn, equal parts sleep deprived from late-night exhibition prep and buzzing with anticipation for the day ahead. We packed all of our conference swag early in the morning, picked up a cascading set of 16 yellow, black and gold balloons on our way from San Francisco, and rolled up to Redwood City in an Uber XL, ready to rock and roll.Our booth initially con...","published_at":"2024-04-25T06:47:21Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/172897","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/172897"},{"id":172872,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:172872","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"Zette’s Been Featured on TheSkimm, Morning Brew \u0026amp; more! + Two Days Left to Invest ⏰⏰","preview":"Hey everyone,🎉 Zette's Wefunder campaign just crossed the $1.05 Million mark! 🎉The demand has been amazing—we're almost at our funding limit on Wefunder 🤯 With just have TWO days left in our campaign, reserve your spot now so we can fit your investment into our round!In the past few weeks, Zette’s been getting major attention from the media ecosystem—here’s some of the amazing newsletter, social media, and press coverage we’ve gotten so far:AltsMorning BrewThe Average JoeYellowbrickTheSkimmNe...","published_at":"2024-04-24T20:55:07Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/172872","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/172872"},{"id":172817,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:172817","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"📝 Zette Featured in Wefunder’s Newsletter + We Hit $1 Million!!!","preview":"Hi everyone,Zette has been featured in Wefunder’s latest dedicated newsletter! 📧✨Out of the hundreds of startups that debut on Wefunder every month, few campaigns are selected to be showcased to the wider Wefunder investor community. Zette’s round now joins an elite group of top-funded startups—a testament to the incredible velocity of support and excitement our product has generated on this platform.A huge THANK YOU to all of our investors who have made this possible! And to the Wefunder tea...","published_at":"2024-04-23T19:44:46Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/172817","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/172817"},{"id":172787,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:172787","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"⏱️ Let the Countdown Begin: 4 Days Left to Invest + Zette Crosses $820k!","preview":"Hi everyone,Happy Monday!\u0026nbsp;Can you believe that we’re entering the last four days of Zette’s WeFunder campaign?! With just 96 hours left, momentum is steadily accelerating as we near the end of this incredible journey, and we’ll be posting daily updates to keep you updated on our progress.\u0026nbsp;As of today, we’ve also just crossed the $820k threshold (!!!), getting us that much closer to $1 million raised 🎉We wanted to take a moment to express our gratitude to each and every one of our in...","published_at":"2024-04-22T18:06:44Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/172787","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/172787"},{"id":172755,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:172755","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"5 Days Left to Invest in Zette: The Race to $1 Million 🏁","preview":"Hi all,We’re about to enter the final stretch of our WeFunder campaign!Thanks to the support of 360+ investors like you, we've already blown past many of our funding milestones together. Now with just 5 days left until our campaign closes, we’re racing towards 💸 $1 million 💸 raised—and we need your help to cross the finish line!\u0026nbsp;Three ways you can support us:1. If you haven’t already, invest in Zette here. If our mission to democratize access to journalism resonates with you, we’d love f...","published_at":"2024-04-21T18:22:08Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/172755","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/172755"},{"id":172749,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:172749","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"Join us for Zette's Exclusive Final Webinar: AI \u0026amp; Media's Next Chapter!","preview":"Hi all,Happy Saturday! As our crowdfunding campaigns enters its last 6 days, we’d love to officially announce our final webinar for Zette next week:\u0026nbsp;Webinar: The Next Chapter: AI’s Media WaveDate \u0026 Time: April 25 2024, 4:00 PM - 4:30 PM PTRegistration Link: Click here.Join us for an in-depth discussion about the future of media and AI, led by myself and Alex Wang from AI4Diversity. This is your last chance to hear us talk about Zette and the opportunity that AI brings to the media indust...","published_at":"2024-04-21T00:03:34Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/172749","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/172749"},{"id":172655,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:172655","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"Early Bird Shares SOLD OUT 🤯 + Zette Pitching at Startup Grind!","preview":"Hi everyone,\u0026nbsp;Zette has officially\u0026nbsp; ✨🎊 SOLD OUT of Early Bird Shares!!! 🎊✨We’ve been absolutely blown away by the momentum in our campaign! With 357 investors and counting, we’re showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. I've been deeply moved by the overwhelmingly positive public reception to our campaign—it’s our entire investor community that's truly making it possible to turn our dreams into reality.\u0026nbsp;Please note that we only have 7 DAYS LEFT in our WeFunder campaign, so...","published_at":"2024-04-19T18:21:51Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/172655","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/172655"},{"id":172609,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:172609","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"KingsCrowd Founder Profile with Zette CEO Yehong Zhu","preview":"Hi everyone,Happy Thursday! I recently had the opportunity to sit down for a \u0026nbsp;Founder Profile with Léa from KingsCrowd, a platform that analyzes the best private market startup investments. Truly, what an honor to be one of the few companies selected exclusively for coverage this month.I wanted to share the full interview below for anyone interested in learning more about our team and Zette’s growth journey. If this interview resonates with you, now’s your chance to invest in our crowdfu...","published_at":"2024-04-18T16:25:20Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/172609","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/172609"},{"id":172569,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:172569","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"Zette Named AI Division Finalist in the 2024 Next Challenge for Media \u0026amp; Journalism","preview":"Hi everyone,Happy Wednesday! With just 10 days left in Zette's crowdfunding campaign, we're so excited to announce that we've just surpassed $800k and we're almost completely sold out of Early Bird shares 🎉 🤯 🔥 Now's your chance to get in on our round, so don't wait! Invest today.We've got some exciting news to share today: Zette has officially been announced as a division finalist in the NewsTech AI category of the Next Challenge in Media \u0026 Journalism🌟 Check out our press release here!Here’s...","published_at":"2024-04-17T17:50:34Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/172569","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/172569"},{"id":172505,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:172505","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"Zette Selected to Pitch at SuperCrowd24 + Only 2 Weeks Left to Invest! 🕒","preview":"Hi all,Happy Monday! As we enter the final two weeks of out crowd funding campaign, I wanted to share some exciting news with our community:Zette is one of just five impact startups selected to speak at SuperCrowd24—the premier virtual conference for entrepreneurs, business owners and community leaders passionate about leveraging the power of crowdfunding to move the world.More than 100 speakers will be attending, with events ranging from virtual trade show sessions to small group workshops t...","published_at":"2024-04-15T20:27:04Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/172505","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/172505"},{"id":172462,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:172462","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"Zette Trending on WeFunder + Watch our Exclusive VIP Pitch 📈","preview":"Hi everyone,\u0026nbsp;Happy Friday! Zette is currently trending as one of the most-raised companies on WeFunder this week 🤯 We're already at 279 investors, so make sure to claim your stake in Zette before Early Bird shares are gone for good!On Tuesday, we pitched exclusively with WeFunder VIP Discover. This was an invite-only event for the top 10 percent of companies on the platform, and we're so honored to have been selected to attend! Check out the recording here—Zette's pitch starts at 00:28:1...","published_at":"2024-04-13T00:59:05Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/172462","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/172462"},{"id":172359,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:172359","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"Zette on Wefunder Discover","preview":"Recording from Wefunder VIP Discover EventOn April 9th, 2024, Zette was one of a handful of companies that participated in a\u0026nbsp;Wefunder VIP Discover\u0026nbsp;event.\u0026nbsp;Wefunder VIP Discover\u0026nbsp;events happen every 2-3 weeks and allow Wefunder VIP Members to attend a live event with founders whose companies are currently trending on Wefunder. During the event, Wefunder VIP Members can ask the founders questions live.All investors can access a recording of the\u0026nbsp;Wefunder VIP Discover\u0026nbsp;...","published_at":"2024-04-10T17:50:02Z","author_name":"Aryan Raigangar","url":"/feed/172359","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/172359"},{"id":172349,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:172349","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"Zette’s Core Values: On Simplicity, Love \u0026amp; Excellence","preview":"Hi everybody,Happy Wednesday! As we’re now racing towards the $800k mark of our crowdfunding campaign, we wanted to take a moment to introduce you to the core values at the heart of everything we do.At Zette, we live and breathe our core values. Values are what we hire by and what we fire by. They’re principles we apply internally within the company, and externally in the world. They show up in our product philosophies, in our brand ethos and ways that we work with our customers and our team....","published_at":"2024-04-10T17:22:08Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/172349","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/172349"},{"id":172316,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:172316","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"$750k Raised 🤯 + Wefunder VIP Event Tomorrow (4/9)","preview":"Hi everyone,\u0026nbsp;Happy solar eclipse season! 🌒 💫We're thrilled to announce that our Early Bird shares are almost sold out, and Zette has been invited to present at the \"Wefunder VIP Discover\" webinar event tomorrow, April 9th at 11 am PT.During this exclusive session, we'll have a 10-minute slot where we’ll pitch Zette and showcase the investment opportunity for Zette, followed by time for questions from our VIP investors.We’d like to take this time to invite any WeFunder VIPs to attend this...","published_at":"2024-04-09T06:31:17Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/172316","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/172316"},{"id":172237,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:172237","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"Inside Zette: Meet Marketing Intern Riya Sinha","preview":"Hi everyone,Happy Friday!I’m incredibly happy to announce that we’ve made remarkable progress with crowdfunding this week: With less than 🛎️$75k 🛎 remaining in our Early Bird round, we only have a few spots left for early investors—so if you haven’t already already joined the media revolution, invest here today before we sell out.Today I'd love to take a moment to introduce a member of our team, bringing you deeper into the fold of what it’s really like to work at Zette.One thing you might no...","published_at":"2024-04-05T19:24:09Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/172237","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/172237"},{"id":172150,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:172150","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"3 Hot Takes with Zette CEO Yehong Zhu 🔥","preview":"Hi everyone,We hope you’re all doing well. At Zette, we’ve just surpassed ✨$700k raised and 200 investors ✨! Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed— if you haven’t yet, our early bird shares are almost out, so make sure to check out our campaign here.Today, I wanted to take you through what the media revolution will look like by sharing 🔥3 hot takes🔥 relating to the future of content consumption online. Ultimately, it's up to you, the reader, to decide whether these takes hold true...","published_at":"2024-04-03T19:57:45Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/172150","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/172150"},{"id":172074,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:172074","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"Zette’s Q1 Wrapped 🎁","preview":"Hi everybody,Can you believe it’s already April?! The birds are singing, the markets are moving, and as winter warms up into spring, we wanted to update you with our top 5 milestones from a fantastic first quarter of 2024.5 Highlights from Q1:🚀 We officially kicked off our crowdfunding campaign: With less than a month left in our round, we’ve already raised $695,000+ from 191 investors, blowing well past our initial milestones. To all our investors: thank you for your continued support! If yo...","published_at":"2024-04-01T16:22:13Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/172074","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/172074"},{"id":172073,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:172073","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"Storytime at Zette: Generating Hype through Hate","preview":"Hi everyone,\u0026nbsp;As we enter the last 30 days of our Wefunder campaign, amidst the momentum of the now 🎊 187 investors 🎊 who've joined our round, we wanted to take a beat to reflect on a fun and viral marketing moment from an early chapter of our company's history.Did you know that I used to be a product manager at Twitter? Before founding Zette, my job as a PM was to work with designers and engineers to launch new features for Twitter’s 300M+ users. Yet despite having worked on the Tweets t...","published_at":"2024-03-31T21:19:22Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/172073","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/172073"},{"id":172027,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:172027","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"Early Bird Shares Almost Sold Out 💸","preview":"Hey everyone,We hope you’re having a great Friday!We're so excited to announce that we've just hit two incredible milestones: successfully raising\u0026nbsp;$687k\u0026nbsp;and welcoming\u0026nbsp;184 investors\u0026nbsp;to our cap table. We've already gained dozens of new investors in the past week alone 🎉With\u0026nbsp;$121k\u0026nbsp;remaining\u0026nbsp;in Early Bird allocation (and less than a month before our community round closes), spots in our inner circle are filling up fast. Don't miss your chance to join the media r...","published_at":"2024-03-30T00:37:33Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/172027","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/172027"},{"id":172001,"entity_id":"wefunder:feed_item:172001","type":"FeedItem::Update","visibility":"public","title":"Pressing Ahead: Zette's Journey to Media Coverage","preview":"Hi all,Happy Wednesday!I often get hit up by other founders asking for my advice on how to get press for their startups. Some of my friends even refer to me as the \"queen of media,\" likely because they're im-pressed by Zette's constant media coverage.But today I wanted to share with you the behind-the-scenes saga of how we actually got our first mentions in the media, and how the process of generating news is often way less straightforward than it looks. Let's start at the beginning:As a form...","published_at":"2024-03-28T06:58:33Z","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","url":"/feed/172001","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/feed/172001"}],"q_and_a":[{"id":277166,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277166","question":"Beyond the current 110 publishers, how does Zette plan to partner with additional publishers, including name brand outlets like the New York Times or WSJ?","author_name":"Amisha Wadhwa","votes":6,"created_at":"2024-02-24T00:26:49Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-277166","answers":[{"id":277170,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277170","answer":"We aim to expand our partnerships with leading publishers by 1) leveraging our existing strategy of cultivating long-term relationships with newsrooms, and 2) presenting them with new revenue and audience opportunities that are hard to turn down. Our approach is grounded in the belief that mutual success is paramount. As a second generation journalist, I understand the nature of the media industry better than entrepreneurs who only come from a tech background. This industry is in dire need of innovation, a gap that Zette was founded to fill. Our commitment to improving the ecosystem for both readers and publishers alike, coupled with the significant progress we've already made, positions us strongly for future collaborations with top-tier outlets and makes us confident in our ability to continue securing access to the world’s leading publications for our readers.","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","votes":3,"created_at":"2024-02-24T01:23:47Z"}]},{"id":305201,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:305201","question":"did you folks pivot to zette ai? how about an update?","author_name":"Charles Kung","votes":5,"created_at":"2025-04-02T15:21:36Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-305201","answers":[]},{"id":277385,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277385","question":"Really like the concept but missing key publishers for me to sign up. It would be cool if there was some sign-up-and-be-notified feature when/if these publishers were onboarded to Zette, and I'd sign up then.","author_name":"Damien Sutevski","votes":5,"created_at":"2024-02-26T22:23:08Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-277385","answers":[{"id":277386,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277386","answer":"This is an awesome idea, thank you for sharing! One of the reasons we're raising a community round on Wefunder is to add key titles to our publisher network that our readers want to see. We're starting off with 110 publishers but plan to add plenty more over time. What are the key publishers that you'd like to see? Can make a note of it to my team.","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","votes":1,"created_at":"2024-02-26T23:00:06Z"}]},{"id":277219,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277219","question":"With so much bias in the media, how do you make sure you have a balanced set of publications in your offering?","author_name":"Karen Huang","votes":5,"created_at":"2024-02-24T22:22:30Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-277219","answers":[{"id":277289,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277289","answer":"We stay away from extremist views in the media. This aligns well with our business model because a lot of the more extreme publications on either side of the political spectrum do not have paywalls. Because having a paywall is currently a requirement for our publisher set, it usually filters out publications that are too extremist, resulting in higher-caliber publishers overall. We also only work with newsrooms that produce fact-checked content or employ fact checkers themselves. So there has to be a degree of legitimacy that a publication has reached in order for them to be a verified partner with Zette. Publishers that push extreme views, especially those that veer towards misinformation, are not considered viable options for us to partner with.","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","votes":1,"created_at":"2024-02-26T00:43:43Z"}]},{"id":277218,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277218","question":"Do you have plans to IPO in the next couple years? What would an IPO depend on?","author_name":"Mellisa Lam","votes":5,"created_at":"2024-02-24T22:13:44Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-277218","answers":[{"id":277290,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277290","answer":"We have plans to IPO within the next decade for sure. An IPO is typically one of the biggest defining moments of a startup, but it's also just the beginning if the goal is to build a lasting multi-generational company. Typically, an IPO is dependent on a few factors, including: 1. 20-30% yearly growth 2. $100 million in revenue per year Typical valuations for a company that goes public usually start at a billion dollars and above. Because we're a software company solving for such a huge, largely unaddressed problem, we're very optimistic about our future IPO prospects. At the moment we're still a very early stage startup, so I do want to caveat that an IPO is still far off in the future at this point. But if you're as excited about Zette’s prospects as we are, we encourage you to join our round on Wefunder today.","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","votes":1,"created_at":"2024-02-26T00:44:04Z"}]},{"id":277216,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277216","question":"I want to look into using Zette as a service at my company; is it possible to get a set of licenses under one account?","author_name":"Mellisa Lam","votes":5,"created_at":"2024-02-24T22:11:39Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-277216","answers":[{"id":277291,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277291","answer":"Absolutely. We're working on tailoring every individual company's needs based on the number of seats that you're interested in buying. Please contact me directly if you have additional questions or I can refer you to the correct team member to assist.","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","votes":1,"created_at":"2024-02-26T00:44:33Z"}]},{"id":277213,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277213","question":"Are you planning to expand your team size in the next year? If so, what roles or areas are you focused on?","author_name":"Alice Chu","votes":5,"created_at":"2024-02-24T21:53:27Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-277213","answers":[{"id":277292,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277292","answer":"While we intend to keep our team relatively lean, we are planning to add technical talent, including machine learning engineers, as well as business development / sales specialists. This would bolster two fronts for our company: 1) AI development, which would create cutting edge technology for our readers to access, 2) New revenue and sales opportunities, which would help us deliver our product into the hands of paying customers with greater efficiency.","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","votes":1,"created_at":"2024-02-26T00:45:09Z"}]},{"id":277179,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277179","question":"It seems like many of Zette’s current publishers are local outlets. Why would the majority of Zette readers care about the news of other loc al communities besides their own?","author_name":"Darya Kalsi","votes":5,"created_at":"2024-02-24T10:15:35Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-277179","answers":[{"id":277210,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277210","answer":"Local news is a cornerstone of our democracy. One thing that people might not realize is how frequently local news filters into national media cycles. I'm sure you've heard of local stories blowing up in the national media—ranging from the Parkland, Florida school shootings to the contaminated water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Occasionally small new stories, even from the furthest reaches of the globe, will become the biggest in the world. This is by design, as it plays into the distribution model of media. As the world is becoming increasingly global, our own stories are becoming increasingly interconnected. This is true digitally as well as physically—plenty of people travel across the country these days, whether on vacation, business trips, or for personal reasons—and would really like to see the local news of the region they’re in during that time. Additionally, there's many reasons why a given person or business would want access to local media to do local research, even if they don't live in a given place. For example, we’ve spoken to some VCs who want to keep up to date with portfolio companies they’ve invested in that are based in a different state, but they don't want to buy a subscription to that local newspaper just to read about one portfolio company, even if that company is constantly featured in the news. Zette provides them a way to access information in a convenient way suitable to their needs and at an economical price point without committing them to a long term local news subscription, simply because they don't live in the area.","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","votes":1,"created_at":"2024-02-24T21:22:29Z"}]},{"id":277038,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277038","question":"What social media channels or accounts should I follow to stay up to date on Zette’s latest updates?","author_name":"William Du","votes":5,"created_at":"2024-02-22T22:01:13Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-277038","answers":[{"id":277085,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277085","answer":"You can follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and LinkedIn! All of our social media links are on wefunder.com/zette directly under our main video. While LinkedIn is where we’re primarily posting business updates, we'll also have a newsletter that all investors will receive to stay up to date with what we’re building.","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","votes":2,"created_at":"2024-02-23T04:07:08Z"}]},{"id":277005,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277005","question":"Could you explain Zette's pricing structure and how it's determined?","author_name":"Nitish Sudhakar","votes":5,"created_at":"2024-02-22T21:03:52Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-277005","answers":[{"id":277083,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277083","answer":"Our $9.99 price point allows readers to unlock 30 paywalled articles per month. That means each paywalled article unlock is roughly 33 cents apiece. If users would like to read more, they can pay more for a bundle of credits. So, access to up to 60 articles is $19.99 per month, and access to up to 90 articles is $29.99 per month. With this pricing structure, we wanted each article to feel affordable enough for readers while also generating enough revenue for both us and our publisher partners, too.","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","votes":3,"created_at":"2024-02-23T04:04:20Z"}]},{"id":276077,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:276077","question":"How do you actually unlock an article on a publisher's site?","author_name":"Christine Hong","votes":5,"created_at":"2024-02-12T19:37:28Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-276077","answers":[{"id":277076,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277076","answer":"We have seamless backend integration with every publisher we partner with via two main methods. 1. We embed our product directly onto the publisher’s website, offering custom solutions that require minimal effort from the publisher, as we handle most of the technical aspects. 2. We integrate with third-party paywall providers, which are common among publishers. By partnering with these providers, we enable a single integration to apply to any publisher using that vendor, which streamlines our access across multiple publications without repeated individual integrations. This approach simplifies the process, making it efficient for us to connect with a wide range of publishers.","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","votes":2,"created_at":"2024-02-23T03:53:46Z"}]},{"id":322685,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:322685","question":"Hello there, is there still something happening? I invested here and do not really see any updates.","author_name":"Matthias Grieder","votes":4,"created_at":"2026-01-08T17:31:57Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-322685","answers":[]},{"id":282142,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:282142","question":"What is Zette doing differently (and better!) than Blendle.com, which stopped all non-NL offers -- https://www.blendle.support/hc/en-us/categories/17146507837841-Announcement -- a while ago?","author_name":"K L","votes":4,"created_at":"2024-04-24T08:04:19Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-282142","answers":[{"id":282212,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:282212","answer":"Hey KL, thanks for your question! As you mentioned, Blendle is not supported in the US, so unfortunately most Americans have never heard of or used the company’s services. While we love what Blendle has built in Europe, given that it doesn't exist here anymore (and was also acquired years ago), we can't wait to bring democratized journalism access through Zette stateside. A few things that differentiate us from Blendle: 1) We're a subscription model with credits, as opposed to pure play microtransactions—recurring revenue makes it easier to both us and our publishers to predict cash flow, while helping our readers not feel “nickel and dimed” by not having to make a purchasing decision every time they read 2) Our use of AI and the features we’re building on top of Zette’s base access layer can do much more than simply unlocking articles — we also intend to help our readers recommend, summarize, contextualize, and interact with information as well 3) Finally, we plan to extend beyond journalism in the future, supporting paid digital media of all kinds and helping to unlock media democratization across all mediums. For us, journalism is just the beginning of our journey!","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","votes":0,"created_at":"2024-04-25T05:09:47Z"}]},{"id":280241,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:280241","question":"Hello, The number of publishers is still 100+ and registered users are only 50,000. Compared to this AppleNews+ has 400+ publishers and 700,000+ registered users. Do you have executable plans to at least onboard all the 400+ publishers of AppleNews+ on Zette. For example; you could have College Interns working on a standard playbook with call scripts to sign-up all 400+ Publishers with Zete. Handshake is a good app that has attention of all College students looking for internship. Do you have similar plans to sign-up users? Getting an early critical mass will ensure survival of Zette.","author_name":"Valerian Harris","votes":4,"created_at":"2024-04-01T18:32:21Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-280241","answers":[{"id":281913,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:281913","answer":"Hey Valerian, great questions! Currently we have 5% of the global paywall market of publishers because 100% of our 110 publishers are premium sources. In contrast, many of Apple News' 400+ publishers are entirely free sources. Two ways we're planning to increase our publisher count: 1) We can easily onboard free publishers as no business development deal is required, to recommend to our audience 2) We are actively working on adding new publisher deals to the pipeline, and in fact much of the money we raise in this campaign will be going towards publisher partnerships Many of our deals are sensitive and require high-level business executives to work on licensing, so unfortunately it’s not something that is easily executable with college interns. That being said, your college intern playbook could be a great idea to facilitate growth and marketing of new readers for Zette.","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","votes":0,"created_at":"2024-04-20T17:23:31Z"}]},{"id":280175,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:280175","question":"Hey there, I run a venture fund and have a few questions for you that I'd love to ask 1 on 1 if possible. What's the best way to reach you before end of the community round for a zoom meeting?","author_name":"Tristin Chambers","votes":4,"created_at":"2024-03-31T12:24:25Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-280175","answers":[{"id":280872,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:280872","answer":"Hey Tristin, it's great to hear from you! Please feel free to reach out at y@zette.ai. We're solely focused on equity crowdfunding investors in April while our campaign is live, will target a VC round later in spring though. Would love to get to know you and your fund better in the meantime!","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","votes":0,"created_at":"2024-04-08T18:55:10Z"}]},{"id":280136,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:280136","question":"I am from Asia and have been trying to invest in Zette via bank transfer as there aren't any extra fees. However, my local banks don't have a routing number, but a SWIFT Address/Code instead. Plaid is also not available in my country. Therefore, I am having issues with WeFunder to process my investment.","author_name":"Meera K","votes":4,"created_at":"2024-03-30T07:03:43Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-280136","answers":[{"id":280873,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:280873","answer":"Hey Meera, I'll check in with the Wefunder team and get back to you on investment details. If Wefunder is unable to process your investment I may have a different solution for you. Can you email me at y@zette.ai?","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","votes":1,"created_at":"2024-04-08T18:56:07Z"}]},{"id":279625,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:279625","question":"Hi @yehong-zhu, What's the exit strategy?","author_name":"C Prescott","votes":4,"created_at":"2024-03-25T19:40:15Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-279625","answers":[{"id":279682,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:279682","answer":"Exit-wise, we believe we’d be an attractive acquisition target for any public company with a media tech angle and ambitions to scale (including all the FAANG companies). But our ambitions are much bigger than that. We want to become the new category king in the digital media payments sector, and we’re targeting a venture-scale outcome (100x return) with the end goal of an IPO within the next decade. We plan to do this by expanding our scope. For us, journalism is just the beginning. Just like Amazon started by shipping books and ended up shipping everything, we plan to scale Zette’s pay-per-view model across digital content of all kinds — including e-books, academic journals, podcasts, shows and more. It's going to be the ride of a lifetime and we hope you'll join us as an early investor :)","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","votes":1,"created_at":"2024-03-26T04:05:08Z"}]},{"id":279377,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:279377","question":"May I still invest in Zette even if I am not located in the States? I find Zette's concept to be super cool and convenient for avid readers like myself!","author_name":"Meera K","votes":4,"created_at":"2024-03-22T04:30:22Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-279377","answers":[{"id":279384,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:279384","answer":"Yes, you can invest even if you're located outside the United States! From Wefunder's FAQ: \"Are you international? We have investors from all around the world! With a few exceptions, we accept investments from international investors as long as you comply with the law in your country. If you're investing from outside the US, check out our step-by-step guide for international investors by visiting our International Investor Guide. Unfortunately, residents of the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec are currently barred from investing on our platform at their request. Additionally, we cannot accept investments from certain sanctioned countries, including Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, and Ukraine's Donetsk, Crimea, and Luhansk regions.\" Check out Wefunder's full guidelines on investors here, and let me know if you have any further questions: https://help.wefunder.com/investing/who-can-invest#:~:text=We%20have%20investors%20from%20all,visiting%20our%20International%20Investor%20Guide.","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","votes":0,"created_at":"2024-03-22T07:04:52Z"}]},{"id":277873,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277873","question":"What is your current runway and monthly burn? Any when are you expecting to charge customers?","author_name":"Saad Abbasi","votes":4,"created_at":"2024-03-03T15:56:19Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-277873","answers":[{"id":277983,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277983","answer":"You can see in our \"details\" section that over the past three months, operational expenses for our company have averaged $9,200/month. Given how quickly our Wefunder campaign is gaining momentum, by the time our campaign closes we'll be set on runway for the remainder of the year and into early 2025. We also plan to raise another institutional round of funding, which will give us at least 18-24 months of runway (if not more). We plan to charge customers in H2 2024.","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","votes":1,"created_at":"2024-03-05T07:38:49Z"}]},{"id":277538,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277538","question":"What areas will this crowdfunding campaign contribute to your business? ex. sales, marketing, ai, hiring?","author_name":"Sarah Green","votes":4,"created_at":"2024-02-28T16:58:27Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-277538","answers":[{"id":277568,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277568","answer":"We've outlined our use of funds within the “details” page on Wefunder. But the most exciting thing that we're planning to do with the money raised in our community round is to further development on our AI product, which will help us expand beyond just access to journalism, into AI-powered recommendations of the best content anywhere on the internet for our readers.","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","votes":0,"created_at":"2024-02-28T20:50:36Z"}]},{"id":277406,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277406","question":"I invested in Below the Fold on Republic a long time ago. I see that you have acquired them. What does that mean for Below the Fold investors? Thanks.","author_name":"Mark L","votes":4,"created_at":"2024-02-27T01:34:35Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-277406","answers":[{"id":277413,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277413","answer":"Hi Mark! We've acquired Below the Fold's assets, but their investors are still under the purview of the original company (Acciyo) and their founders, so I would ask Anum and Vivian directly about this as they would know best.","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","votes":0,"created_at":"2024-02-27T02:45:27Z"}]},{"id":277196,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277196","question":"What does it mean for competing news tech 1.0 companies to demand new behavior or fit existing behavior?","author_name":"Megan Chai","votes":4,"created_at":"2024-02-24T18:34:38Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-277196","answers":[{"id":277209,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277209","answer":"A product that fits existing behavior does not ask the user to change their habits. For example: After installing AdBlock, you don't have to think about using AdBlock ever, or change the way you’re surfing the web. Why? Because Adblock works in the background. Similarly, by installing Zette as an extension, we can automatically detect and unlock paywalls as long as you click to read. So that's what we mean when we say, it fits neatly into existing user behavior. Whereas a lot of platforms don't do that. For example, they will require you to adapt to the product or platform instead of having the product adapt to user behavior. While it’s not necessarily a bad thing to have a learning curve to use your product, it does add friction to the overall user experience.","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","votes":0,"created_at":"2024-02-24T21:21:13Z"}]},{"id":277111,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277111","question":"What publications are you hoping to partner with next and why?","author_name":"Mina Baghai","votes":4,"created_at":"2024-02-23T16:02:04Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-277111","answers":[{"id":277122,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277122","answer":"We’re currently in conversations with a number of the world's top business cultural, financial and technology publications. While we can’t reveal exactly who we're working with until the deals are finalized, I’m excited to share that they are definitely brands that you’ve heard of, and brands that many of our readers would be very happy to access.","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","votes":1,"created_at":"2024-02-23T17:44:18Z"}]},{"id":277063,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277063","question":"Is Zette fact-checking news for customers?","author_name":"David Wu","votes":4,"created_at":"2024-02-23T00:32:10Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-277063","answers":[{"id":277079,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277079","answer":"Rather than fact-checking the news directly, we're partnering with publishers that employ fact checking within their organizations. This means that they either have existing fact checking policies or employed fact checkers on their staff. In the future, we’re aiming to work with organizations that do specifically fact check news articles, and we are also exploring how AI can help with fact checking as well. Providing unbiased and credible news, free from misinformation, remains a top priority for us.","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","votes":1,"created_at":"2024-02-23T03:56:55Z"}]},{"id":277060,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277060","question":"How do you plan to attract younger audiences to subscribe to your service when Gen-Z and other teenagers largely turn to social media platforms like Instagram or TikTok for news?","author_name":"Eric Yao","votes":4,"created_at":"2024-02-23T00:07:56Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/zette#question-277060","answers":[{"id":277081,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:277081","answer":"One thing that people often don't think about is that Gen-Z is aging pretty fast right now. The older end of Gen-Z is around 23-27 years old. So not only have plenty of Gen-Z graduated from college long ago, but some have even spent half a decade in the workforce! So while it’s true that a lot of Gen-Z are primarily engaged on social media platforms like TikTok or Instagram, they can't easily cite social media content in their college essays or the research reports that their bosses and professors are now demanding of them. That’s why we believe there will always be a demand for premium information. We're just capturing that spike in demand at the right age, so to speak. There will be this coming-of-age moment that Gen Z will have to reckon with as their age pushes them to transition away from social media platforms to credible and premium sources of information.","author_name":"Yehong Zhu","votes":1,"created_at":"2024-02-23T04:02:17Z"}]}],"faq":[{"question":"How do you actually unlock an article on a publisher's site?","answer":"We have seamless backend integration with every publisher we partner with via two main methods. 1. We embed our product directly onto the publisher’s website, offering custom solutions that require minimal effort from the publisher, as we handle most of the technical aspects. 2. We integrate with third-party paywall providers, which are common among publishers. By partnering with these providers, we enable a single integration to apply to any publisher using that vendor, which streamlines our..."},{"question":"What do I get in return. For investing ?","answer":"You not only get access to our Early Bird discounted valuation if you’re among the first $300k in investments, but you also get access to a number of investor perks (please see wefunder.com/zette for the full suite of perks depending on how much money you invest). As for potential ROI, our long-term goal at Zette is to target an IPO (initial public offering), which would value the company at a billion dollars or more. The upside of investing early can be incredibly high. So if you believe in ..."},{"question":"It looks like there's been a relatively recent pivot towards AI. Please elaborate. How is ML relevant to your business model (which is ostensibly primarily \"surfing the internet paywall-free. \"). How much are you investing in ML (e.g., relative to to other costs)? It's not bro...","answer":"We're using AI to make our service better by helping users find and read articles that are usually hidden behind paywalls. This is important because it's hard to discover good articles that people usually can't access without paying—not only are these articles not shared on social media, but they’re less discoverable on search engines and receive less engagement overall. An AI-powered recommendation system allows us to surface the best content for our readers, paywall-free. We have an edge he..."},{"question":"How do you address varying subscription rates among news outlets?","answer":"Currently we address varying subscription rates by standardizing the cost per article. That means that each article across different news outlets costs the same amount to the user. This makes it easier for both publishers and readers alike to know the cost of each article within the Zette platform, and standardizes negotiations with publishers as well."},{"question":"Who is your target audience?","answer":"Although we’ve designed our product to be accessible for everyone seeking high-quality information, on the consumer side we’re particularly focused on engaging younger digital natives. We call this demographic the HENRY CATTS: High Earners (Not Rich Yet), Curious and Aspiring Twenty and Thirty-Somethings. This group spans from older Gen-Z’s to older Millennials, or those in their early 20s to late 30s. They range from college students accessing high-quality information for the first time, to ..."}]}}}