Vice Media was built to shock and there is plenty to raise eyebrows in a recently published New York magazine investigation of the media company’s turbulent growth under Shane Smith, its iconoclastic co-founder and former chief executive.

The article shows how Vice burnished its credentials as gateway to a lucrative youth market for established businesses and investors, from Intel to Rupert Murdoch.

As part of its rise, for instance, Vice once constructed a Potemkin village to impress potential partners. The group moved into swisher offices next door just before a crucial encounter with Intel. It built a conference room for the meeting with the chipmaker, installed new toilets, and, on the day itself, urged staff to bring in friends who would help to convey an impression of hip, youthful busy-ness.