Scaling Deseret Digital Media to
Hundreds of Millions
Through Platform Innovation
How intrapreneurial leadership transformed a legacy media organization into one of the world's most-distributed family-focused digital networks.
The Mission That Demanded Exponential Thinking
Deseret Digital Media (DDM) operated premier digital properties including DeseretNews.com and KSL.com. Its board set a bold, unwavering mission:
Reaching hundreds of millions of people with light and knowledge.
To accelerate toward that goal, DDM acquired Nathan's platform-building company and appointed him as an intrapreneur — tasked with developing and scaling new digital platforms within the organization.
What followed was a period of unprecedented growth: a high-performance social and content network that redefined what was possible for a mission-driven media company.
A Shifting Landscape Demanded a New Playbook
- Organic search was becoming more competitive, eroding legacy traffic advantages.
- Social platforms were completely reshaping content distribution models.
- Engagement — not just pageviews — was emerging as the key growth metric.
- Publishers were struggling to scale audiences without compromising mission and brand integrity.
The board's mission required exponential audience growth — not incremental gains. Legacy strategies were no longer sufficient to fulfill an extraordinary mandate.
Three Pillars. One Transformational Outcome.
Nathan developed and executed a multi-platform expansion
strategy built
on three
interdependent pillars — each designed to compound the impact of the others.
Platform-Native Distribution
Instead of relying solely on legacy websites, the team built content ecosystems directly inside major social platforms and created entirely new digital properties.
- Native video and visual content optimized for each platform
- Platform-specific publishing strategies and cadences
- Rapid iteration using real-time engagement analytics
- Measurable, repeatable engagement at scale
Mission-Aligned Content at Scale
The content strategy was built to compete in mainstream digital media while maintaining the organization's core identity and values.
- High-passion content targeting the core audience
- Family-centered and values-driven storytelling
- Emotionally resonant, highly shareable content
- Multi-language and multicultural content expansion
High-Performance Team Execution
Operating with startup speed inside an enterprise structure — a true intrapreneurial model that unlocked capabilities unavailable through traditional organizational design.
- Cross-functional team creation and leadership
- Growth experimentation and rapid testing culture
- Data-driven optimization across every channel
- Social engagement maximization as a team KPI
Numbers That Rewrote What Was Possible
Social Network Growth
Website Network
What This Initiative Proved to the Industry
Mission-Driven Media Can Scale Globally
Values-aligned content is not a barrier to growth — when executed with strategic precision, it becomes a powerful competitive differentiator in a crowded media landscape.
Distribution Strategy Is as Vital as Content
Even exceptional content fails without intelligent distribution. Platform-native strategies outperformed traditional publishing models by orders of magnitude.
Intrapreneurship Unlocks Exponential Growth
Startup-style innovation can thrive inside established organizations — when leadership creates the right structures, incentives, and culture to support it.
Engagement Outlasts Pageviews as a Metric
Chasing pageviews builds fragile audiences. Engagement — comments, shares, community interaction — builds a loyal, high-value audience that compounds over time.
Let's Build Your Next Breakout Platform
The same strategies that scaled DDM to hundreds of millions can be applied
to your
organization. The question is whether you're ready to move.