I get mad when one of our reporters buries the lede, putting important information too far down in the story, so I’ll just come out and say it up top: I’m leaving LINK nky at the end of this year.
Now that the band-aid is off, let me back up a bit.
Being the founding CEO of LINK has been the privilege of my career, and the decision to leave has not been an easy one. But if my quarter century in startups has taught me one thing, it’s that the most important decision a founder can make is leaving at the right time and in the right way.
The past four years of starting, leading and growing LINK has been an incredible experience. No one truly expected us to succeed – we were a news startup in 2021! – and certainly not to the level which we have. Michael Monks, Mark Collier and I could not envision where we’d be six months in, let alone four years down the road.
We have defied every trend in the industry, growing when others shrank, adding audience while others lost readership, and building a sustainable revenue pipeline when others said it was impossible in the current market.
The work is by no means done – we still have a revenue gap we need to close, and our editorial product continues to get better every month, as our team learns, grows, and better understands the Northern Kentucky community.
However, the part I’m best at – starting, professionalizing, and scaling – will be finished by the time I leave in six months. Michael and Mark, when they first met me, acknowledged that what LINK needed in addition to their editorial expertise and sales prowess was someone who knew how to build – from scratch – a professional business, with all that entails.
We took LINK from two scrappy one-man operations to the fully-staffed, scaled (and further scalable) business it is today. We are a well-oiled machine, and I’m so proud of that. We have a CRM and comprehensive sales strategy, an award-winning website, professional HR processes, a robust technology stack, strategic planning framework, and project management tools that help us create not only daily digital coverage, but weekly print and quarterly Super Issues.
Building all of that is what I love and am best at. Now that those pieces are in place, it is time for a new leader to take LINK through 2.0 and into whatever its long future holds.
For the next six months, the Managing Board and I will be looking for my replacement. We need someone with business acumen, grit and determination, revenue-generating skills, and a strategic mindset. Someone who can come in and build on the firm foundation that has already been laid, to ensure the goals of LINK 2.0 are met.
This is not an editorial position. Our Executive Editor, Meghan Goth, is doing an incredible job overseeing all our editorial product, and our Editorial Board is providing wise counsel along the way. This is a job for a business leader, someone who cares about the news, and loves Northern Kentucky and LINK in particular, and who can turn that love into advocacy for LINK’s continued success.
The ideal candidate will be someone intensely curious about technology and how it intersects with the news industry, someone with experience running and growing a business, someone used to working lean and scrappy (there are no expense accounts at LINK), and someone who can get on the phone and create revenue for an organization they care about.
I don’t want to sugarcoat this – it will be a hard job. The buck stops with the CEO at LINK. The industry continues to change, and news organizations must evolve to survive. Plus, next year is a huge election year for Northern Kentucky, and that means both sides of LINK – revenue and editorial – will be working overtime to give NKY the coverage it deserves.
However, the person who takes over will be inheriting an incredible team of hardworking, passionate people who care deeply about our community. They will also get to lead an organization that is strategic, structurally sound, and positioned for the future. Additionally, the Managing and Editorial boards are both fully committed to the success of LINK will support the next CEO in their work.
Bottom line: I was lucky to get to do this work, and whoever comes after me will be as well.
If you think you are the next leader of LINK, you can apply here.
And for everyone who has supported me through this journey, thank you. If you know me, you know there is a much more emotional (read: tear-stained) column coming later. But for now, I’m spending the next six months laser-focused on making sure the organization I hand over to my replacement is as strong as possible.
