Mental Floss

Mental Floss is a bi-monthly American magazine, which started in 2001 in Birmingham, Alabama.  The main focus of the magazine is to present information and trivia in a humorous way.  Mentalfloss.com's popular blog contains additional trivia and news articles.  The magazine was co-founded by William E. Pearson and Mangesh Hattikudur while they were student at Duke University.  Mental Floss first appeared as a newsletter on Duke's campus in the Spring of 2000 with a distribution of 3,000 issues.  The newsletter was very successful, and the co-founders began to think of a national magazine.  Pearson and Hattikudur began searching for investors and staff members while raising funds to print the first issue, which was released in May, 2001.  Over the following summer, 8,000 copies were distributed, and 60% sold out on newsstands.  The magazine was promoted by word of mouth through partnering with fellow content providers, such as howstuffworks.com.  This gave the magazine a platform for free cross-promotion.  Mental Floss soon gained partnerships with Discovery Channel, CNN, and Reader's Digest, as well.  The company continued to grow, putting out a board game and a reference book called Condensed Knowledge.  Mentalfloss.com was also a big step for the company, which brought in more readers and supplies additional facts, quizzes, and blogs separate from the magazine.  
In 2007, the company's revenue was $2.1 million.  In 2010, the revenue was $3.1 million.  The company's 3-year growth was 52%.  
Mental Floss has responded to the digital world by developing a highly interactive website, which receives 2.5 million unique visitors monthly.  In addition to reading the magazine online and offering digital subscriptions, users can take many quizzes, read blogs, watch videos, and use the "Amazing Fact Generator." Users can comment on the material and contact the editors online, as well.  Another aspect of Mental Floss's digital portfolio is its online store.  Mental Floss also stays relevant online through youtube and twitter accounts.