Kara viewed anonymous comments as vile and unhelpful to the site.
She reframed Twitter as the site's real comment section.
She was unapologetic toward critics who invoked free speech to defend abusive commenters.

“Get out of my bar. Guess what? I'm not giving you a beer.”
Kara Swisher · 58:00

“I said Twitter was our comment section, really.”
Kara Swisher · 58:00

#online comments#content moderation#community

Story· 8

Story08:00

How Kara Discovered the Internet Beat at the Wall Street Journal

Kara recounts being the first WSJ reporter hired specifically to cover the internet and online services, when the industry was tiny and unproven.

WSJ's tech coverage was originally hardware/chips-focused (Intel, Microsoft, Apple).
Kara was the first person hired to cover the internet and online services per se.
She instantly recognized the internet's significance, comparing it to seeing a great movie.

“I was the first person hired in that bureau to cover the internet per se, like what it was in online services and Yahoo.”
Kara Swisher · 08:00

#journalism history#internet history#WSJ

Story11:00

Convincing the Wall Street Journal to Fund a Blog and Conference

Kara and Walt Mossberg couldn't convince WSJ management to back a blog directly, so they pitched a profitable conference as the wedge.

WSJ management resisted the idea of an ongoing blog/conversation format.
Kara and Walt used a money-making conference as leverage to gain autonomy.
The conference later funded the shift to the All Things D website in 2007.

“We should have an ongoing conversation. And we couldn't convince the management of the Wall Street Journal to do it.”
Kara Swisher · 11:00

“Here's some money, here's some millions for you, you know, and profits.”
Kara Swisher · 12:00

#media entrepreneurship#internal pitching#conferences

Story12:30

The 'Mr. and Mrs. 20%' Profit-Sharing Deal

Kara describes negotiating a profit-share arrangement with the Wall Street Journal that made her and Walt disproportionately valuable within Dow Jones.

All Things D generated roughly 20% of the Journal's profits at one point.
WSJ initially gave a token $40,000 bonus before agreeing to a real profit share.
Management resented the deal despite benefiting from it.

“Yeah, we were like twenty we called it ourselves Mr. and Mr. 20 percent, but they weren't making any money, so that's a low bar.”
Kara Swisher · 12:30

“We did call ourselves Mr. and Mrs. 20 percent.”
Kara Swisher · 12:30

#negotiation#media economics#Wall Street Journal

Story31:30

The News Corp Phone-Hacking Scandal That Pushed Kara to Leave

The News of the World phone-hacking scandal made Kara and Walt reconsider staying under News Corp ownership.

News Corp's UK tabloid hacked the phone of a murdered teenager.
The scandal made Kara question whether All Things D should stay associated with News Corp.
It contributed to the decision to seek new ownership.

“They hacked the phone of a dead girl.”
Kara Swisher · 31:30

“Oh God, these people, we're trying to pretend they're not satanic, and they are.”
Kara Swisher · 31:30

#News Corp#media ethics#corporate ownership

Story35:00

Naming Recode: From 'Shut Up and Listen' to Recode

Kara shares the chaotic branding process that led from a joke company name to 'Recode.'

Their parent company was originally named 'Shut Up and Listen LLC' before becoming Revere Digital.
The desired URL Recode.com was held by an owner who wanted them to run a peace conference in exchange.
They settled for the .net domain instead.

“It was originally called Shut Up and Listen L L L C that was the original.”
Kara Swisher · 35:30

#branding#naming#startup culture

Story39:00

Deciding to Sell to Vox Media Just Six Months In

Kara describes realizing within six months of launching Recode that the media-content funding frenzy of 2013-2014 made independence too risky.

Competitors like BuzzFeed and Fusion were raising huge sums and poaching staff with inflated salaries.
Kara concluded Recode's business model wasn't venture-scale and pushed hard to sell early.
She credits tech culture's bias toward fast decision-making for the quick pivot.

“So I thought we gotta sell. Like I I immediately I was like pushing hard, pushing walled hard.”
Kara Swisher · 39:00

“This could go very wrong for us with the money we have.”
Kara Swisher · 39:30

#M&A decision-making#media economics#Vox Media

Story25:00

Winning Over Scaramucci After Months of Twitter Trolling

Kara recounts publicly mocking Anthony Scaramucci on Twitter for months before an in-person encounter led to a memorable podcast interview.

Kara trolled Scaramucci relentlessly online despite finding him appalling.
A chance in-person meeting turned adversarial banter into rapport.
She insisted she could interview anyone, regardless of political disagreement.

“I know you, you're mean to me on the internet.”
Kara Swisher (paraphrasing Scaramucci) · 25:30

“He thought, well, why wouldn't she talk to me? Like, but of course I would.”
Kara Swisher · 26:00

#interviewing#Scaramucci#access journalism

Story1:22:00

The Jobs-Gates Interview and Jobs' Final Interview Before His Death

Kara reflects on her career-defining Jobs-Gates joint interview and her last conversation with Steve Jobs shortly before his death.

The Jobs-Gates joint interview remains historic and emotionally revelatory.
Jobs' final interview with Kara showed remarkable vibrancy despite his declining health.
Kara considers asking Jobs 'what are you going to do the rest of your life' one of her best questions.

“He is so vibrant as a person.”
Kara Swisher · 1:23:30

“What are you gonna do the rest of your life?”
Kara Swisher · 1:24:00

#Steve Jobs#Bill Gates#legacy interviews

Q&A· 2

Q&A32:30

Why Kara Turned Down Venture Capital for Recode

Kara explains her aversion to VC funding and why she sought media investors instead.

Kara believed VC investors would eventually 'screw' the founders given the business's limited scalability.
She wanted investors who understood media rather than pure growth-at-all-costs capital.
Recode ultimately raised from NBC and Terry Semel's investment firm.

“I just didn't want to listen to a VC. Like eventually they'd screw me.”
Kara Swisher · 32:30

#fundraising#venture capital#media investors

Q&A1:07:00

Grading the Vox Acquisition of Recode

Kara assesses the Vox-Recode deal using the Acquired hosts' A-F grading system, landing on a B+/A.

Kara believes the deal had no real downside for Vox given return on brand, journalism, and podcast revenue.
She contrasts Recode's outcome favorably against other content-company acquisitions like Fusion.
She acknowledges media businesses remain structurally difficult regardless of the deal's success.

“I would say I would say a B plus at least, if not an A.”
Kara Swisher · 1:07:30

#acquisition grading#Vox Media#deal outcomes

Tool· 1

Tool48:30

Launching the Recode Decode Podcast Against Conventional Wisdom

Kara describes ignoring industry skepticism that audiences couldn't sit through hour-long interview podcasts.

Industry conventional wisdom said podcasts had to be short.
Kara believed smart, substantive conversations would find an audience regardless of length.
Vox Media gave her freedom to experiment without institutional pushback.

“Everyone's like, you can't do an hour. And it was two months after the acquisition you started the podcast.”
Kara Swisher · 48:00

“What was great about Vox is there was nobody here to say we couldn't.”
Kara Swisher · 50:00

#podcasting#launch decisions#Vox Media

Takeaway· 1

Takeaway1:14:00

Keeping Creative Talent Happy in the Free-Agent Media Era

Kara reflects on how media companies must now treat star journalists like free agents with multiple concurrent contracts.

Star journalists increasingly hold multiple simultaneous contracts, similar to sports free agency.
Kara herself has contracts with MSNBC, the New York Times, and Vox Media at once.
Media companies need to figure out how to reward and retain creative people without losing them entirely.

“How do you keep really creative people interested all the time?”
Kara Swisher · 1:14:00

“It's gonna be a lot more free agents.”
Kara Swisher · 1:14:30

#talent retention#media business models#star journalists

Frameworks in this episode

Do the Work: Career Armor

The 'Act Like You Already Know' Reporting Method

The Syntropy-Entropy Media Cycle

The Useful-Entertaining-Must-Have Product Filter

Insights & moments

◆Hot Take· 1

Killing the Comments Section

❝Story· 8