Letter from the editor: Thank you for spending 2018 with us

Dec 22, 2018

I hope you’re having a great weekend.

Like many of you, we’re in the midst of the holiday rush as we celebrate the holidays with colleagues, family and friends. It’s the most wonderful time of the year, even if it comes with a lack of sleep.

For us here at The Logic, it’s not just a time to ring in the new year. We also marked a celebration of our own: our six-month birthday.

It coincides with the publication of our 100th story—Catherine McIntyre’s exclusive report on delivery drivers in Canada’s largest city, who allege that Amazon is blocking their attempts to unionize. In fact, most of our stories are exclusives, and all 100 were originally reported.

More importantly, our readers have repeatedly told us that our stories have helped them make better investment decisions, provoked important policy debates and focused attention on the need to ensure more appropriate expenditure of government money.

Not a bad start.

The Logic was always about more than just covering tech and innovation. It’s about the future of Canada. Being a part of the very same ecosystem that we’re covering has given us a unique perspective on what it takes to build a company in this country. Our reporting tries to reflect that.

Keep on the lookout early next week, when we’ll be publishing a list of the stories that we’ve chosen as our favourites of 2018.

In addition to celebrating, the holidays are also a time to give thanks.

First, I want to thank our investors. At a time when many lament the loss of original, high-quality journalism in this country, it’s notable that a few brave souls stood up to meaningfully support the idea that we can have new ways of delivering great, globally-relevant reporting in Canada. These folks—who fall under the “friends-and-family” banner—know about the headwinds facing venture-backed media. But they still made contributions to get our bootstrapped startup off the ground. I’m grateful for their support in making an investment not just in our business, but also in the future of Canada.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Canada needs more people like them.

We’re also immensely indebted to our subscribers, who continue to grow in numbers. Their investment in our product and in helping to grow our community is what makes this all worthwhile. If you have a fear of missing out and want to get ahead of your competitors, if you believe in the vital role of quality journalism, or if you want a stronger Canada, I can only urge you to join our growing community. Your subscription dollars go directly toward supporting independent Canadian journalism.

I’m also indebted to the incredibly talented team here at The Logic. Each of them has passed on opportunities to work at more established organizations because they believe in our mission and what we can accomplish. It is a humbling experience to know that you can build something from scratch and have a talented group of individuals willing to join you on that journey, giving the best of themselves each and every day. It’s a privilege to work with them.

Many of you have asked who designed, builds and maintains our site. I want to acknowledge the tireless efforts of John Hemminger and Niraj Shah of StudioRd Design, who worked with us for many months to craft our brand identity and build our product—and who put up with me in the process! I also want to thank Scott Snowden and the team at Flywheel Strategic for their ongoing support in optimizing what we do and for always thinking about how we can make things better.

And, for subscribers in Toronto or who can make the trip, save the date! Our official launch party will be taking place on Monday, March 4th, 2019. Stay tuned for more details and to RSVP in the coming weeks. I can’t wait to meet you in person—in many cases, for the first time. If you can’t join us, we’ll make a recording of the event available for subscribers.

It’s hard to believe, but this time last year, this publication was still just a figment of my imagination. We had no funding, no reporters, no website and no readers. One year later, we have tens of thousands of readers, hundreds of subscribers and so much ahead of us to look forward to.

Our mandate is simple: produce journalism worth paying for that you can’t find anywhere else. I hope you feel we’re living up to that promise. We’ll continue striving to achieve that ever-elusive goal into 2019 and beyond.

Thank you for being such an integral part of the ride.