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New to Building Audientia?
Welcome! This publication documents the real story of building Audientia Institute—a peer networking platform for journalism professionals. No highlight reel, no Silicon Valley polish. Just honest reflections on what it takes to create infrastructure for an industry in transformation.
If you’re new here, these posts will give you the full picture of where we’ve been and where we’re headed.
The Origin Story
The Willingness Is There - Why collaboration in news exists and what infrastructure can unlock when newsrooms connect around shared challenges.
40% of Local Newsrooms Are Gone. What If Part of the Solution Already Exists? - The industry crisis that sparked Audientia—and why peer networking matters for local news sustainability.
The Product Vision
What Audientia Solves: Local news is hemorrhaging resources. Professional development costs thousands. Knowledge sharing happens in expensive conferences or not at all. Audientia exists to democratize access to industry expertise through algorithmic peer matching—connecting news professionals based on organizational challenges, not just job titles.
How It Works: Unlike passive networking platforms, Audientia uses intelligent matching algorithms to connect news professionals facing similar challenges: revenue diversification, audience engagement, staffing constraints, and digital transformation.
The Technical Journey
Momentum Doesn’t Care If You’re Sick - What launching a startup while severely ill taught me about commitment, limits, and why the work matters.
Building on Zero Budget: How I’m relying on free tiers and relentless resourcefulness to build a platform that serves an industry with constrained budgets—because if Audientia can’t be built lean, it won’t serve the newsrooms that need it most.
From Closed Beta to Launch: Ten newsrooms are currently testing Audientia (as of February 2026). Their feedback will shape everything: the matching algorithm, the community features, and the pricing model. This is what building in public looks like.
Personal Reflections
The Solo Founder Reality: Late-night debugging sessions. Pricing pivots. Security audits. Working full-time at the Chicago Sun-Times while pursuing an MBA and building a startup. The messy middle of bringing an idea to life.
Why I’m Documenting This Journey: The journalism industry deserves transparency about the tools meant to serve it. Every decision, every setback, every lesson learned—it’s all here because the how matters as much as the why.
What’s Next
Audientia is transitioning from closed beta to open launch. You’ll see everything: the wins, the setbacks, the pivots, and the persistence required to build something that matters.
How You Can Help:
📊 Take the 5-minute survey - Help us understand what journalism needs most
🔗 Visit Audientia Institute - See the platform I’m building
💬 Share your thoughts - Reply to any post or reach out directly
Subscribe to follow along. Every post is free because this story belongs to everyone invested in journalism’s future.
Ready to dive in? Start with “The Willingness Is There” and work your way through. Welcome to the journey.