Inside the Sources launch party
Tech and media leaders gathered in Manhattan for tequila, sushi, and poker. Also: Runway CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela on this week's ACCESS.
Earlier this week, over 100 leaders in tech and media gathered at Casa Komos in Manhattan to celebrate the launch of Sources.
The tequila started flowing around 5:30 PM, with guests nibbling on sushi while mingling over Union Square Park. After a couple of hours, a group of us made our way to the poker tables while others kept chatting well into the night. It was a thrill to see so many familiar faces. A special shoutout to my sister Esther for DJing.
The guest list for the evening was impressive, featuring leaders from Meta, Google, Anthropic, OpenAI, Reddit, Notion, Shopify, Cloudflare, Spotify, X, Lightspeed, Thrive Capital, Coatue, and more. We had a great turnout from the NYC media scene, including Vox Media, The Verge, Axios, Forbes, Time, Fortune, Business Insider, Semafor, and Wired. I would be remiss not to shout out the fellow new media founders who also came, including
, , and Lachlan Cartwright, who wrote about the party in his excellent media newsletter.None of this would have been possible without my friend Joe Marchese and the rest of the Human Ventures team, who went above and beyond to make this launch party a roaring success. And don’t worry, I’m already starting to plan Sources launch celebrations in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The bar has certainly been set high. Get in touch if you want to help!
Photos from the Sources launch party:
This week on ACCESS: Runway CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela
Thanks to Cris for coming on this week’s episode. We discussed why Runway is investing heavily in AI world models, the current state of Hollywood, and more. Watch on YouTube and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
A reminder that Ellis and I are taping our first show with a live audience on November 10th for the Google Ventures AI Builders summit in San Fransico. If you're interested in attending, please don't hesitate to reach out.
Catch me on the Breaker Media podcast
It was a pleasure joining Breaker Media’s Lachlan Cartwright in NYC for this conversation about going independent, the state of AI and tech reporting, and more.
Building Sources
JJ Colao from Haymaker PR graciously asked me to speak at this week’s Media Summit in NYC for the opening panel about indie media. There will be a full recording published later, but for now, I wanted to summarize some of what I shared onstage:
I’ll make more money in the first few months of launching Sources and ACCESS than I made as a full-time employee in a newsroom. And I’m having all kinds of fascinating discussions about partnerships to expand Sources and ACCESS in the coming year. I had no idea what to expect when I went independent, but I’m so glad I did. This would not have been possible without those of you who have subscribed and supported me so early.
I see an opportunity to build the kind of tech publication that sparked my interest in becoming a reporter many years ago. I’m particularly inspired by the early days of All Things Digital and Recode. I’m taking all this one step at a time, but I named this publication Sources, not after myself, because I can see it becoming bigger than just me one day.
Last but not least, I’m excited to be a founding member of Altogether, a new collective of independent journalists that’s led by AJ Frucci.
It took me about 20 minutes to say yes to his pitch. We’re aligned on an approach to advertising that respects my audience and enables me to grow my business faster than I could through subscriptions alone. Please contact Frucci if you’re interested in supporting Sources and what I’m building.