Shira Lazar’s ‘What’s Trending’ Prints Money While Agencies Chase Their Own Tails

Here’s a headline you won’t see in any of the LinkedIn influencer echo chambers this week: Shira Lazar didn’t wait for permission, a Google algorithm update, or a whitepaper from a ’10x agency’ to build something that actually pays the bills. She saw the coming storm of creator-led media while most of the so-called experts were still pushing keyword density and buying fake followers on Fiverr. Fifteen years ago, Lazar launched ‘What’s Trending’ as a side bet. Today, it’s a seven-figure juggernaut, while most of the agency crowd is still busy selling recycled ‘growth hacks’ to brands that should know better.

Here’s what she did that the entire consultant class still can’t wrap their heads around: she actually created content people wanted to watch. Not the SEO-optimized, AI-regurgitated, 300-word nothingburgers clogging up your feed every Tuesday morning. ‘What’s Trending’ became a destination because it was plugged into the culture — fast, funny, and ruthlessly relevant. Meanwhile, the big agencies were still debating whether TikTok ‘has legs’ in their quarterly vision decks.

You can see the results in the numbers. While some of you are out here celebrating 1.5% engagement rates like it’s the Super Bowl, Lazar’s team is landing brand deals that would make your average DTC founder weep. Seven figures in revenue, all built off actually knowing what an audience cares about — not whatever the latest AI content spinner spits out. There’s no plugin, course, or white-label SaaS in sight. Just ruthless focus, speed, and the willingness to ship before the industry consensus catches up.

If you’re still waiting for a blueprint, here it is: stop listening to the SEO guru grift and start shipping content with a pulse. Lazar didn’t need a panel at Advertising Week to figure out how to connect with people. She just did the work, stayed in the trenches, and didn’t waste time pontificating about the ‘future of media’ while everyone else was busy not launching anything. The uncomfortable truth: if you want seven-figure results, you need to stop acting like engagement is a KPI and start acting like revenue is oxygen. The rest is noise.