[softwaredoug]

The real problem is that FiveThirtyEight wasn’t run as an independent P&L. They didn’t have autonomy to make business / product decisions like as Nate says putting up a paywall etc. they were treated as pure creatives.

The real lesson for both sides is to not divorce “creatives” from the business. Arguably that’s one of the biggest mistakes of legacy media and why platforms like YouTube have been so successful: creatives run the business. There’s not a long complicated feedback loop between creatives / business decisions.