This Week in Startups E1003: The Athletic CEO & Co-founder Alex Mather is building a paid online sports media publication, shares insights on attracting investors in a seemingly dying industry, managing 500+ remote writers, creating interesting angles through unique coverage & more
Nov 22, 2019
Alex Mather, Co-founder and CEO of The Athletic, dives into the challenges of launching a paid sports publication in a seemingly dying industry. He shares insights on managing a large remote team of over 500 writers and transitioning from ad-based to subscription models. Mather discusses the impact of NHL and MLB coverage, scouting new talent from layoffs, and the role of sports gambling in America. Also covered are the effects of inflated media valuations and Apple's app store on digital content. It's a fascinating look at modern sports journalism!
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Prioritizing Editorial Investment
- The Athletic prioritizes editorial investment, allocating 70-75% of its budget to content creation.
- This contrasts sharply with ad-based models that prioritize sales and marketing.
OKR Approach and Unique Storytelling
- Mather uses an OKR approach, setting different objectives and key results for writers in different sports.
- He emphasizes storytelling and finding unique angles instead of chasing the same stories as everyone else.
Engagement Metrics and Modified NPS
- The Athletic focuses on engagement metrics such as percentage of active users reading a story and story completion rates.
- They also use a modified Net Promoter Score (NPS) to gauge reader satisfaction and referral likelihood.