Advice Line with Jonah Peretti of Buzzfeed

Guy Raz introduces BuzzFeed founder and CEO Jonah Peretti as the first-ever Advice Line guest to help founders navigate the uncertain terrain of scaling a business, building community, and maintaining brand authenticity.

Caller 1: Anthony Cortez (MotionFlix)

Anthony Cortez calls from Miami, where his company MotionFlix transforms outdoor spaces into luxury cinema experiences with plush seating, personal headphones, and full concierge service. Having launched during COVID as a temporary solution for socially-distanced gatherings, the business has organically expanded to Los Angeles, San Diego, Tampa, and now Miami, generating just over $1 million in annual revenue. His challenge: how to scale efficiently while preserving the soul of the operation. Should he franchise the model, license it, or build a real-time marketplace that connects property owners with event planners? Jonah immediately identifies the tension between control and growth, noting that MotionFlix's strongest asset is its fully-insured national relationships with property management companies—a barrier to entry that franchisees would instantly benefit from. The conversation explores whether the brand can remain consistent across markets without direct oversight, and whether a "hub-and-spoke" model where Anthony and his partner train operator-partners might strike the right balance between culture and scale.

Caller 2: Melissa Bermudez (Unrefined Foods)

Melissa Bermudez, founder of Unrefined Foods in Newburyport, Massachusetts, makes frozen muffins using 100% stone-milled organic grains and minimal sweetener. After hitting $30,000 in sales through farmers markets and direct-to-consumer channels, she's now pushing into wholesale and facing the classic "healthy food paradox": how do you stand out when every brand claims to be clean, nourishing, and better-than-homemade? Jonah's take is counterintuitive—lean harder into the specifics that seem mundane. He points to her fiber content (over 30% daily value) and suggests putting that number front and center on packaging. But the real opportunity, he argues, is in community: what if each muffin wrapper contained a unique message for a child's lunchbox, or if customers could submit photos of their cats (or kids) enjoying the product, creating a feed of shared experience that no knockoff could replicate?

Final Thought

This episode rewards a second listen because Jonah's advice operates on two levels: tactical next steps and philosophical reframing. He doesn't just answer the questions asked; he reframes what's at stake—MotionFlix isn't selling movies under the stars, it's selling guaranteed community events in an isolated age; Unrefined Foods isn't selling muffins, it's selling parental peace of mind through radical transparency. The through-line is that in an economy of infinite replication, what can't be copied is the human experience woven into the product itself.