Welcome to Stratechery 2.0

Posted on Author by Ben Thompson

A few weeks ago I wrote three pieces at Stratechery about the state of journalism in the age of the Internet.

The main takeaway of these pieces was that the Internet, with its wide reach and low costs, is fantastic for writers, but a very difficult environment for newspapers with their high fixed costs. It’s also great for readers, who can follow specific writers instead of broad-based publications focused on the lowest common denominator.

While these pieces stood on their own, the truth is the thinking behind them was not at all abstract: it is the foundation of the new Stratechery, launching today.

At Stratechery, I want to build a site that enables me to focus on writing in a way benefits not just myself but my readers as well. To do that I’ve focused on building a freemium model that will allow me to focus on writing, grow my audience, and reward those who want to join the conversation, get more content, or create a community.

This is how it will work:

  • The twice-weekly articles (usually fairly long) that I have been writing for over a year will continue, and will always be free. They will be sponsored on a weekly basis by advertisers who wish to reach the Stratechery audience of VCs, tech company executives, and technologists around the world. Sponsorships will appear on the front page and at the bottom of every article across the site for a week
  • For those who value Stratechery highly, I am offering three membership options that are all accretive in value:
    • Join the Conversation membership level ($5/mo or $50/year) and gain the ability to comment on articles. Those who join for a year will also receive a Stratechery t-shirt
    • Join the Content membership level ($10/mo or $100/year) and, in addition to Conversation privileges, gain access to new daily content by me. This content will primarily take the form of a linked-list, where I link to articles of note with an excerpt and one to two paragraphs of analysis. Those who join for a year will receive both a Stratechery t-shirt and a poster of the The Social-Communications Map
    • Join the Community membership level ($30/mo or $300/year), and, in addition to Content privileges, gain direct access to me and to other Community members via email, a private message board, and both virtual and in-person meetups around the world. Those who join for a year will receive a t-shirt, poster, and a Book by FiftyThree of Stratechery drawings
  • I have also launched the Stratechery.FM podcast, and will be available for speaking opportunities

With this model I am hopeful I can make a living, increase my audience, and reward those who value my writing the most. None of this would be possible without the Internet, and if I am successful, I hope Stratechery will stand as an example of the positive and transformative effect the Internet will have on writers and writing everywhere.

Thank you in advance for your support. You can learn more about the membership model and signup here.