<\/p>\n
When Netflix launched the streaming era it had a simple promise: One place for everything. But when entertainment studios launched their own services, suddenly every major company wanted to be The Streamer, racing to fill their platforms with the most content possible to beat out competitors.<\/p>\n
Amid the chaos of the 2010s streaming wars Dropout \u2014 a streaming service launched by comedy internet-video giant College Humor in 2018 \u2014 was born. The platform specializes in unscripted comedy shows bolstered by its large cast of comedians from the world of improv.<\/p>\n
\u201cDropout has to differentiate itself,\u201d says the company\u2019s Chief Executive Sam Reich about developing the streamer\u2019s brand. \u201cI\u2019m interested in, \u2018If you\u2019re gonna do comedy right now, what does that mean?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
After College Humor\u2019s parent company InterActiveCorp was dissatisfied with the streaming service\u2019s subscriber numbers in 2019, it became apparent that a sale was on the way. Then-chief creative officer Reich pitched a radical alternative to selling the service to a major media company: have Reich take control of College Humor in exchange for IAC maintaining a minority stake in the company. According to Reich, the deal was approved in less than two months.<\/p>\n
To keep the company afloat, College Humor laid off the majority of its more than 100-person staff in early 2020. Reich and Chief Operating Officer David Kerns whittled the company down to seven full-time employees. The company shifted the business\u2019 focus to making content for its streaming service and later rebranded from College Humor to Dropout.<\/p>\n