How to Build a Paywall

Former Wall Street Journal reporter Jessica Lessin got some attention when she left the newspaper six months ago to start a new online news venture, and this week she launched the project, known as the Information: a subscription-only technology and business news service that costs $399 a year and has no free content or “leaks” in its paywall. The hardness of the wall and the price surprised many—given the experiences of some other new-media outlets that tried and failed with a hard paywall model—but Lessin said in an interview she is convinced she can build a sustainable business based on that approach.

Lessin said she decided to leave the Journal and start her own publication because she saw an opportunity to go after a specific market she felt wasn’t really being served by the paper—primarily insiders working in the tech industry and related businesses, such as venture capital. To help nail down the audience she was aiming for, she said she identified half a dozen actual people who became archetypes for her ideal reader: product managers at Dropbox, vice presidents at Apple, sales managers at Oracle, etc.