🎧 The Drunken Walk, S1-E5: Jessica Lessin— Founder, The Information
Subscribe to podcasts from Matter Ventures here.
Our guest on this episode is an incredible example of a journalist turned media entrepreneur: Jessica Lessin, former Wall Street Journal reporter, now at the helm of the in-depth business/technology subscription publication, The Information. Before she founded The Information, Jessica was convinced that a select audience would pay for under-reported, exclusive, ad-free content pertinent to their sphere of work. And she was right. Today 10 out of the CEOs of the 11 most valuable technology companies in the U.S. pay $399 a year to access one daily article along with The Information’s vibrant community.
In her fireside with Matter’s Managing Partner, Corey Ford, Jessica describes her approach to starting her own editorial venture after years reporting on other entrepreneurs, how her company’s mission attracts talent, and how she maintains a relationship with its audience that helps keep the product relevant to their needs.
“I felt that if you were doing it from scratch, you could do better. More than anything I believed that there were other journalists who would love to work at a place like The Information where they could still do stories that got people to be like, OK we’ve got to read this.”
The Drunken Walk is a series of live fireside chats, blog posts, and podcasts from Matter Ventures, the world’s only independent startup accelerator for media entrepreneurs.
To join the next class of our accelerator program in San Francisco or New York City, apply now on our website.
Join the conversation about the future of media by following us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and of course here on Medium!
Sign up for our newsletter to get regular updates on our program and portfolio.
