''Inside.com'' was a website and

trade magazine A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular tradesman, trade or industry. The collective term ...

that covered "the converging worlds of entertainment, media, music and technology." Launched with a great deal of hype in the spring of 2000, Inside was a victim of the

dot-com bubble The dot-com bubble (or dot-com boom) was a stock market bubble that ballooned during the late-1990s and peaked on Friday, March 10, 2000. This period of market growth coincided with the widespread adoption of the World Wide Web and the Interne ...

and the

early 2000s recession The early 2000s recession was a major decline in economic activity which mainly occurred in developed countries. The recession affected the European Union during 2000 and 2001 and the United States from March to November 2001. The United King ...

, and it closed down at the end of 2001. Company headquarters were in the Chelsea neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

.Snyder, Gabriel
"Brill’s Contented: Inside.com Merger Feeds His Big Maw,"
''

Observer An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment. Observer may also refer to: Fiction * ''Observer'' (novel), a 2023 science fiction novel by Robert Lanza and Nancy Kress * ''Observer'' (video game), a cyberpunk horr ...

'' (April 9, 2001). The magazine/website is not related to the later

Jason Calacanis Jason McCabe Calacanis (born November 28, 1970) is a podcaster, American Internet entrepreneur, angel investor, and author. His first company was part of the Dot-com bubble, dot-com era in New York. His second venture, Weblogs, Inc., a publishi ...

startup Inside.com, which focuses on delivering thematic newsletters.

History

Inside.com was co-founded by

Kurt Andersen Kurt B. Andersen (born August 22, 1954) is an American writer, the author of novels and nonfiction as well as a writer for television and the theater. He was also a co-founder of '' Spy'' magazine, as well as co-creator and for its 20-year run ...

, Michael Hirschorn, and Deanna Brown (calling themselves Powerful Media) in 1999, with the announced goal of helping to "reinvent a form, not unlike

magazines A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

at the beginning of the twentieth century, or even

newspapers A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

and the

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

in the eighteenth and nineteenth." The company began with $12 million in financingSicha, Choire
"Bubbles, Crashes and Burns: 15 Lessons from 10 Years Ago,"
''

The Awl ''The Awl'' was a website about "news, ideas and obscure Internet minutiae of the day" based in New York City. Its motto was "Be Less Stupid." History Founded in April 2009 by David Cho and former ''Gawker'' editors Choire Sicha and Alex Balk ...

'' (May 25, 2011). from

Jim Cramer James Joseph Cramer (born February 10, 1955) is an American television personality, author, entertainer, and former hedge fund manager. He is the host of ''Mad Money'' on CNBC, and an anchor on ''Squawk on the Street''. After graduating from Ha ...

and

Flatiron Partners Fred Wilson (born August 20, 1961) is an American businessman, venture capitalist and blogger. Wilson is the co-founder of Union Square Ventures, a New York City-based venture capital firm with investments in Web 2.0 companies such as Twitter, T ...

, and added a second round of $23 million in May 2000, prompting Andersen to famously proclaim that raising money for the site was "easier than getting laid in 1969."Moneybox
"Inside.com: Size Matters,"
''Slate'' (July 18, 2000). Starting with an "all-star" staff of 72 stocked by "

old media Old media, also called traditional media or legacy media, are the mass media institutions that dominated prior to the internet; particularly print media, film studios, music studios, advertising agencies, radio broadcasting, and television. Ol ...

" talent from the likes of ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'', '' U.S. News & World Report'',

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

, ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', ''

The New York Observer ''The New York Observer'' was a weekly newspaper established in 1987. In 2016, it ceased print publication and became the online-only newspaper ''Observer''. The media site focuses on culture, real estate, media, politics and the entertainment ...

'' and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', Inside.com launched in May 2000 Wolff, Michael
"The Insiders,"
''New York'' (May 29, 2000). as an online media news website. (

Courtney Love Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, Love has had a career spanning four decades. She rose to promi ...

attended the launch party.) Inside's internal "manifesto" was "Correctness. Insiderness. Juiciness. Utility. Honesty. Smartness. Go kill". The site was divided into sections — "Inside Dope," "Daily Digest," "Power Index," "Ratings," "This Morning's Talk Shows," "Mogul Astrology," and "Today's Gossip"; subscribers were also promised data-driven lists of TV ratings, box office numbers, CD sales, and the like. Subscriptions to the site were priced at $199 a year, with an announced goal of 30,000 subscribers. ''Inside'', the biweekly print magazine, launched in December 2000. The site was named Best Internet Site at the 5th Golden Satellite Awards (held in January 2001), and also won the Webby for Best News Site in 2001. Things, however, soon turned sour for Inside. The site never got more than a few thousand subscribers, and like many other publications covering media and technology, the company couldn't figure out how to turn a profit. In April 2001, Inside.com was sold to Steven Brill/PriMedia (now Rent Group), who immediately canceled the print magazine (after only two issues) and laid off 50 staff members. At the same time, Brill announced he would merge the magazine with his own ''

Brill's Content Steven Brill (born August 22, 1950) is an American lawyer, journalist, and entrepreneur who founded monthly magazine ''The American Lawyer'' and cable channel Court TV. He is the author of the best-selling book, ''Tailspin: The People and Force ...

'' in the fall of 2001, with the new publication to be named ''Inside Content''. Instead, Inside editor-in-chief Hirschorn left in July, Kuczynski, Alex
"Editor in Chief Of Inside.com Steps Down,"
''New York Times'' (July 25, 2001). and Inside itself closed down in October 2001, as Brill dissolved his partnership with PriMedia.

Notable staff and contributors

References

Notes

Sources

* Beller, Thomas
"Inside Inside.com,"
'' Mr. Beller's Neighborhood'' (Oct. 25, 2002).

External links

Inside.com front page from November 8, 2000
{{DEFAULTSORT:Inside.com 1999 establishments in New York City 2001 disestablishments in New York (state) Defunct American websites Internet properties established in 1999 Magazines about the media Magazines published in New York City Mass media trade magazines Online magazines published in the United States

History

Notable staff and contributors

See also

References

Notes

Sources

External links