So, you’re thinking of starting a publication in 2026, 2027, or soon after.
My first question to you is simple: why?
Depending on who you are, I’m either screaming at the top of my lungs or asking with a stern look.
Why do you want to do this? Why now? Why you?
If you can answer that question convincingly, we can proceed. But if you’re unsure, pause here.
Because a publication is not a short-term game, or for those who haven’t thought it through. It is a marathon that demands patience, capital, and conviction.
Yes, creating a publication can be a rewarding experience. It can shape culture, spark conversations, and close information gaps that desperately need to be filled. But it is also brutally demanding.
We’re looking at you investing the next five years*, not five months, before the results start to compound.
Over the past decade, I’ve started newsletters, worked at TechCabal, a venture-backed publication with hundreds of thousands of monthly readers, and more recently led the team at Condia, a profitable, bootstrapped one.
These are the questions that come to mind when I’m speaking with someone who wants to start a publication.
1. What gap are you filling?
Every successful media venture exists because it filled a gap. Something was missing in how stories were told, who was being represented, or what conversations were being ignored.
So ask yourself: what doesn’t exist today that should?
You may have seen a global idea that deserves a local version. Maybe you are tired of seeing certain people or sectors underreported. Or perhaps you want to create a home for stories that reflect a certain mindset or generation.
Whatever it is, the gap you are filling defines your relevance. Without it, you won’t stand out.
2. Who are you serving?
Once you know your gap, define your audience. Not vaguely but specifically.
Don’t just say, “young people aged 18–35.” Let’s define it by adding more attributes. Let’s try:
- Gameheads interested in the latest mobile games.
- Immigrants in their 20s and 30s navigating life, work, and belonging in a new country.
- C-suite professionals who value intelligent storytelling that connects strategy with human behaviour.
- Corporate professionals exploring alternative income, creativity, and independence.
- Culture-curious readers who crave depth in an age of hot takes.
When you define your audience clearly, you begin to understand their desires, habits, and frustrations. This clarity shapes everything, from your tone and content choices to your business model.
One useful exercise is to write a short audience definition: who they are, what they care about, and why they would choose you over anyone else. It sounds simple, but it is foundational. Your audience definition will most likely evolve, but it helps to start from somewhere.
It’s important to note here that your target audience determines the reach of your publication. Here’s what I mean. Different topics attract different kinds of people, and some naturally appeal to more people than others.
A simple way to see this is by checking what trends on platforms like Google Trends or Twitter. On any given day, you’ll usually see politics, sports, and entertainment (span movies, music, or celebrity news) leading the charts. Have you ever seen Base Transceiver Stations trending? Likely not.
So if you decide to focus on something narrower, say politics within a particular state, you’re restricting your reach to people who care about politics in the state. If you’re doing a publication on food delivery or SME, you’re speaking to a smaller audience than those who are interested in global logistics and International business.
The same applies if you choose to create for people who value depth over hot takes. You’re intentionally saying no to those who prefer trending gossip or surface-level news. Ultimately, it comes down to your goal.
If you want to reach a large audience, you’ll need to consider how broad your topic is. But if your focus is on depth, community, or influence within a niche, your expectations should reflect that.
3. How will you make money?
Monetisation is often either overlooked or expected to happen sooner than is realistic. There are several routes to this:
- Advertising. The classic model. You build an audience, then invite brands to reach them through sponsored content, display ads, or partnerships. The key part of this model is building a large audience. The more people [quality] pay attention to you, the more money you can make from brands that want to reach those people. There’s a caveat, though. You’ll most likely be able to pull in more money from an audience of 1,000 that’s mostly made up of CEOs and business executives, compared to an audience of 10,000 students.
Why? Brands will pay more to reach decision makers with higher purchasing power and control over company budgets than students with____ you can fill in the blanks. - Subscription or membership. You offer paid access to exclusive stories or experiences. This works better in markets with higher purchasing power, but it’s not impossible elsewhere. The big question you need to answer here is, “Can you guarantee people continuous access to high-quality content?”
- Events. You extend your audience’s interests, bringing them together physically or virtually. It’s more feasible when you have an audience first. Even free events have a 30% registration-to-attendance turnout rule of thumb; bear this in mind.
- Grants or brand projects. Here you seek temporary funding or one-off collaborations that can help you stay afloat while you build sustainability. Grants are good, but you’ll have to find the ones that align with your publication. Brand projects can also limit how much time and effort you can pour into your publication.
Whatever you choose, remember: money follows trust. You’ll need to build credibility, consistency, and an audience that believes you’re worth their time — and, eventually, their wallet.
PS: In the struggle to stay alive and thrive, many publications gradually drift toward producing whatever content promises faster or easier revenue.
4. Choose your format wisely
Should you start with print? Probably not.
Begin lean with a website or newsletter (Think: Substack/beehiiv). Prioritise value over aesthetics. A beautifully designed site with hollow content will not last, but a simple site with consistent insight will. I have a personal bias for starting or having a newsletter because it allows you to have a direct relationship with the audience and isn’t easily affected by changes in Google algorithm/ the new AI search wave.
Over time, you can expand into richer formats such as podcasts, videos, or print once your digital foundation is strong.
When thinking of your content, the 3H Model is a good framework to use. I’ll explain. The 3H framework (Hero, Hub, Help) is a content strategy model that helps a publication balance its content mix — with Hero stories driving mass attention, Hub pieces deepening audience engagement, and Help articles delivering consistent, searchable value.
- Hero Content: This is your big, attention-grabbing content, the kind that puts your publication in front of new audiences and builds brand awareness. It’s not something you produce often, but when you do, it should have strong storytelling, emotional pull, and high production value. Think major investigations, exclusive interviews, or special editions that spark conversation and attract national or global attention.
- Hub Content: Hub content is the heartbeat of your publication, what your regular readers come back for. It’s consistent, engaging, and reflects your publication’s voice and values. This includes newsletters, recurring columns, podcasts, explainer series, or behind-the-scenes stories that deepen reader loyalty. The goal is to sustain attention and community over time.
- Help Content: Help content is practical and service-oriented. It addresses readers’ questions, pain points, or curiosities in your niche. For a media brand, this might mean how-to guides, explainers, or contextual articles that simplify complex topics. This type of content strengthens trust and positions your publication as a go-to resource.
5. Assemble your team, even if it’s just you (for now)
At the core, every publication needs five functions:
- Writers who create.
- Editors who refine.
- A growth person who helps with distribution.
- A sales or partnerships person who helps with bringing in Money.
- A designer who makes stories visually compelling.
In the early days, you might wear all five hats, and that’s okay. The goal is to grow into a team that can handle each role with skill and focus.
But as you grow, don’t underestimate the value of good people. Pay them fairly. Skilled talent saves you time, protects your reputation, and accelerates growth.
6. Resource yourself for the long game
There’s a saying that people don’t start publications to make money but for influence. Even publications owned by billionaires are losing money.
That’s not entirely true — but the point is, there are faster and easier ways to make money. As mentioned earlier, publication takes time to grow, so you need resources and patience for the long run. Hiring experienced professionals costs money; the alternative is to bring in less-experienced talent and invest in their growth. If you choose the latter, accept it fully — don’t expect veteran performance from a recent graduate.
Even if your publication is a side project executed by only you, remember that you’re financing it somehow — through your time, your salary, or your savings.
In all, allocate resources wisely, stay lean, and be patient.
7. The AI Question
A few months ago, an acquaintance told me, almost casually, “In the end, only two or three major publications will survive in each sector. AI will take care of the rest.”
I can’t remember what I said in reply. Probably something polite. But I remember thinking: he’s half right. The half that’s missing is the part only people who’ve actually tried to write or make something understand — the part that lives between effort, doubt, and discovery.
Here’s what I’ve come to realise: yes, AI will get better. In six months, it’ll be better than it is today. In a year, even more so. But the easier it becomes to produce content, the more the internet will drown in what some now call AI slop — shallow, frictionless words with no fingerprints on them. And when that happens, people will start craving the opposite: work that carries texture, context, and care. Work that feels like it was made by someone who meant it.
AI will be a tool — a brilliant one — but still a tool. It can process patterns, summarise trends, and mimic tone. What it cannot easily reproduce is perspective: the strange mix of memory, curiosity, bias, and imagination that shapes a human voice. You can’t train that on data. It’s lived.
You should use AI often. It’s good at building scaffolds — first drafts, outlines, seeds of ideas. But the real work still begins after. Editing, reshaping, interrogating. Turning something technically fine into something emotionally true. And that’s the difference between output and meaning.
Could AI someday do it all — research, write, edit, publish, even interview? Maybe. But even then, there will be edges it can’t reach. Tiny leaps of intuition. A story told not because it’s optimal, but because it needed to be told. That kind of creation isn’t about efficiency; it’s about intent.
So yes, AI will take over the low-hanging tasks. Maybe that’s a gift which frees you to do the harder, more beautiful work — the kind that asks for more than intelligence. The kind that asks for soul.
Parting words
If you’re starting a publication, think of it as a long-term experiment in storytelling, community, and trust.
Know your why, define your gap, understand your audience, and stay committed to the craft. Everything else — the money, the influence, the recognition — comes (wayyy) later.
* It can happen sooner, but you’re better off getting in for the long run.
