Subscription-first growth and retention trends

Defector is one of the clearest test cases of what comes after the scale era. Born out of the Deadspin walkout and structured as a worker cooperative, it has achieved something most digital media operations haven’t: five years of stability with zero staff turnover. I talk with Defector COO Jasper Wang about the upside of that model, the limits it imposes, hitting a subs ceiling, and why Defector is comfortable with the tradeoffs.