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One of Thrillist's first employees got $2 million to launch a new parenting site for guys

Madeline Stone   

One of Thrillist's first employees got $2 million to launch a new parenting site for guys
LifeThelife3 min read

mike rothman fatherly

Courtesy of Fatherly

Fatherly cofounder Mike Rothman.

Today's new moms have a vast network of blogs full of helpful tips for each stage of parenting.

But what about new dads?

Meet Fatherly, a brand-new site created by early Thrillist employee Mike Rothman and marketing exec Simon Isaacs. The site officially launches today after several months in beta.

The goal, according to Rothman, is to provide parenting advice for guys who are on their first or second kid and looking for content geared towards them specifically.

"There's been an interesting shift, where fathers are more involved in terms of time commitment and purchasing decisions," he said to Business Insider. "But there was a complete dearth of content for this up-and-coming demographic. They're not signing up for print magazines because they're not really tailored to them."

With stories like "The Longboard Stroller Is Exactly What It Sounds Like" and "A Navy SEAL's Tips On How To Dominate Hide-And-Seek," you could think of Fatherly as a grown-up version of Thrillist.

It's a guide, he says, for guys who also happen to be dads.

"After seven years of marketing to young, single guys [at Thrillist], we realized they were not as young or single anymore," Rothman said. "We were kind of aging out of the demographic."

simon isaacs fatherly

Courtesy of Fatherly

Fatherly cofounder Simon Isaacs.

Fatherly recently raised $2 million in a seed funding round led by SoftTech. Lerer Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Gary Vaynerchuk, the Knight Foundation, and the founders of the Bleacher Report and Elite Daily also contributed to the round.

"They understand we're going in this inevitable direction, where people are coming online as parents to see what's there," Rothman said.

In addition to Rothman and Isaacs, Fatherly currently has two full-time editors in its New York City office. Much of their content, however, comes from a vast network of contributors.

One series called "Why is the sky blue?" will have experts give simple explanations to the questions kids might ask. They might have a Harvard psychology professor, for example, explain where dreams come from.

Among the experts they've recruited are therapist and author Esther Perel, Wharton School of Business Professor Stewart Friedman, and home improvement expert Timothy Dahl. There will also be advice from neuroscientists, the Centers for Disease Control, and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

They even did an interview with Malala Yousafzai's father, who provided some insight on what it's like to raise a Nobel Prize winner.

"We take this expert-driven guidance because we realize there's not one uber dad who knows the answer to everything," Rothman said. "And it's not the people who usually blog about these kinds of things. It's a lot of general interest content."

When you sign up for Fatherly, you have the option to enter your child's age, which will help the site tailor its content for the challenges you might face at any given stage.

There's also an ecommerce component, where you can get age-specific product recommendations sent to your inbox - ranging from the things you need when you're preparing to have a child to the baby monitors you should try once you have one.

Rothman isn't a father just yet, but Isaacs welcomed a new baby to his family just a few weeks ago, and Fatherly's editorial director is also a new dad.

"It's been an interesting experience to do this with guys who just had kids," Rothman said. "We keep the time flexible."

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