TheArticle has been running as a publishing platform since the spring of 201. The engine which has been most successful for us has been the social media platform we built, where members can rate articles, create networks, debate, and have personalised feeds of content. This has inflated our pageview numbers by up to 40 per cent. There is an opportunity for TheArticle to create a “White Label” version of its social media platform. This means TheArticle will be able to offer multiple publishers the chance to buy an “off-the-shelf” social network exclusively for its readership and no longer 'outsource' to Twitter or Facebook. The publisher’s site and our social media platform will be seamlessly integrated and branded. The publisher will control the publisher site, we will control all data and functionality of the social media element, while the reader / consumer will not notice where he is handed from publisher site over to social media platform. We plan to sign up multiple political and cultural blogs and online publishers, concentrating on those with a readership that is attractive to high-end advertisers. We project being able to sign up 1 million accounts in the first year by putting our social media platform live on 35 small and medium sized publisher sites (we already have a number signed up in principle). We will monetise these accounts through selling the hard and soft data generated and offering integrated display, native and content campaigns for advertisers across the network. In doing this: · We will create a consumer base that is loyal and engaged · Publishers will experience an increase in page views and gain a revenue stream which could enable sites to stay free to air rather than put up pay walls. · Advertisers will be able to use a valuable data mine and advertising network With in two years we conservatively forecast being able to monetise these accounts at £5 per annum.

2. v
1.1 million social media accounts recruited within 12
months to a new and unique platform with all data
owned by TheArticle.
We will monitise each account at £5 per annum
within 2 years by opening up the leading data mine
for affluent and influential audiences.
What we hope you’ll invest in

3. Quality
Popular
Legacy
Media
New
Media
Events
Programmatic Data
Cover Price
Cover Price Subscription

4. v
Large newsbrands
have not updated
business models to
protect investment in
journalism and reflect
21st
century society.
v
Readers are not given
a plurality of editorial
voices creating ‘fake
news’ and
‘echo-chamber’
phenomenon .
v
Brands and
advertisers are not
given insight into an
exclusively intelligent
and affluent data
mine.
v
Blogs unable to make
revenues because of
decreasing yields and
lack of expertise.
The problem we’re solving
Updating the publishing model for the sharing economy

5. Where we’ve come from

6. TheArticle 1.0
THE FIRST
PUBLISHER WHICH
IS A SOCIAL MEDIA
PLATFORM
We capture first party
data and serve our
members tailored feeds of
content. Members can
rate articles, comment
and share with their
followers through their
accounts.
Our social media platform
gives us the ability to
construct deep dive data
which advertisers and
brands need to target
upmarket and lucrative
audiences.
A BUSINESS MODEL
DESIGNED FOR THE
NEW ECONOMY
DESIGNED TO
BREAK DOWN
ECHO-CHAMBERS
We leave members to
make their own decisions
through publishing work
from all parts of the
political spectrum, as
long as they promote
decent, reasoned debate.
A DISRUPTIVE MODEL TO CREATE SOCIAL MEDIA’S HOME FOR THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
PLURALISM OF
VOICE
We have no singular
political or ideological
slant. This was born from
a deep frustration with
the current highly
polarised journalistic and
political environment.

8. MORE THAN A
PUBLISHER
MORE THAN A
PLATFORM
MORE THAN AN
EDITOR
MORE THAN
CONTRIBUTORS
Journalists’ payment in
touch with the sharing
economy.
Social media platform
to give members
personalised content
feeds.
We take legal
responsibility for
everything which is
published.
Everything is actively
edited.
Free from bullying and
intimidation.
Exchanges create areas
for discussion and
debate.
In defence of western
liberal democratic
tradition and freedom
of speech.
Intelligent freelance
contributors from
politics, business,
journalism and
academia.
Designed to create
plurality of voice.
How we’re different
15K members and up to 700k page views in a month on limited budget
IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS MEMBERSHIP WILL GROW TO 100K MEMBERS

9. Editorial stakeholders
Alastair
Campbell
Former Downing
street Director of
Communications
Alistair
Burt
Former Conservative
foreign office
minister
Peter
Kellner
Founder of the
YouGov opinion
polling organisation.
Miriam
Clegg
International trade
lawyer. Married to
Nick Clegg.
Jim
O’Neill
Chair of Chatham
House. Coined
the term BRIC.
Denis
MacShane
Former Labour
Minister for Europe
and Author.
During the Covid19 crisis the Directors bartered 10 per cent of the business to outstanding writers and
contributors in exchange for writing in lieu of fee. This has pulled down outgoings, increased traffic to
the platform, accelerated membership growth and proved that we can pivot the business according to
events outside our control. Members of the stakeholder group include:
...along with Raymond Keene (chess grandmaster), Nigel Biggar (Regus Professor), Oliver Kamm,
Robert Fry (Joint head of Allied Forces in Iraq), Emma Burnell, Owen Polley, Heidi Kingstone and
Alexander Woolfson.

10. Where we’re going

11. Context
THE NEED FOR SOFT
DATA
. The media industry is at
the start of the “soft data”
revolution. This is the
information which tells
advertisers what their
consumers think. This
information is extremely
valuable.
Nearly all traditional and
legacy media owners are
being left behind in soft
data revolution by big
tech. They are also trying
to reduce their
dependency on social
media.
SOCIAL MEDIA VS
TRADITIONAL
PUBLISHERS
PAYWALL: THE ONLY
ALTERNATIVE
Legacy publishers such as
the Times & FT have very
strong brands allowing
them to opt for the
paywall. However it is
almost impossible for
new, small or medium
sized media brands.
THE MARCH OF SOFT DATA PRECLUDES TRADITIONAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
Traditional media
platforms must gather up
soft data by creating new
digital spaces for readers
to interact. This will
create value for their
readers, advertisers, and
partners.
THE NEED FOR ‘NEW
DIGITAL’ SPACES ON
TRADITIONAL
PLATFORMS

12. TheArticle 2.0
UNDERSTANDING
OUR SUCCESS
We convert readers to
social media members at
2.5% of each unique who
lands on TheArticle.
Our ‘Rate’ function is key
to conversion and inflates
page views up to 40%
We have the plan and
technology to create
individually branded
social media platforms for
multiple traditional
publishers and platforms.
TRANSFERRING THIS
SUCCESS TO OTHER
PLATFORMS
TheArticle’s
RELATIONSHIP WITH
PUBLISHERS
The publisher will be able
to access all data
generated by its
readership. No data will
be shared with other
publishers from the wider
publishing ecosystem.
A DISRUPTIVE MODEL TO CREATE THE DATA MINE FOR THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
CENTRALISED DATA
OWNED BY
TheArticle
Although each media
platform has its own
branded social media
platform the technology
and database which
powers the service is
controlled and owned by
TheArticle.

13. The process
SIGNING UP OTHER
PUBLISHERS
We will sign up a
minimum of 35 political
and cultural publishers in
the first 6 months. We will
concentrate on
publications with
readerships of interest to
high-end advertisers.
The average site will
generate 1 million unique
visitors per year. Based on
TheArticle’s conversion
rate this will generate
30k account members
per site: 1 million accounts
in total.
THE POWER OF
COLLABORATION
TheArticle’s
RELATIONSHIP WITH
PUBLISHERS
We will split revenue with
the publishers. The social
media platform will also
give publishers a base to
advertise events &
subscriptions, plus
generate page views for
the mother sites.
THE CREATION OF A DATA MINE FOR INSIGHT INTO THE AFFLUENT & INFLUENTIAL
MONITISING THE
DATA AND
AUDIENCE
We will generate revenue
from the data exhaust
generated by interaction
with the social media
platforms and
broadcasting display
messages (see next slide
for more detail).

14. How we will monitise
CREATING DATA
EXHAUST
The social media network
will collect large amounts
of “soft”data. E.g. type of
arguments agreed with /
objected to, publication
profile, keywords in
comments, subject
matter interacted with.
This data can be
aggregated to sit within
TheArticle’s tech platform
and used to carve out
different audience
segments.
DATA
SEGMENTATION
THE MONITISATION
Audiences will be
delivered in to a DSP or
DMP for advertisers to
access directly. Pricing
revolves around usage
model or alternatively, an
advertiser pays a flat fee.
USING THE DATA
The data will be used for
advertisers to reach
audiences throughout
the digital ecosystem.
They will also broadcast
native and display
messages throughout our
social media network.
WITHIN TWO YEARS WE WILL GENERATE AN ANNUALIZED RETURN OF £5 PER ACCOUNT

15. STEPHEN RAND
Chief Executive
LUCY REEVES
Chief of
Development
20 years in the
publishing industry as
Director of Print at
advertising agency
OMD, Ad Director of
The Spectator, Director
of Business at the
Telegraph and EMEA
Commercial Director at
the Dow Jones.
Co-founder of the
highly successful
dating and rural
community platform
MuddyMatches.co.uk.
Who we are - the senior management team
DANIEL JOHNSON
Editor
Leader writer for both
The Times and the
Telegraph, as well as
literary editor and
associate editor for The
Times.
In 2008 he launched
Standpoint magazine
as founding editor.
JAY ELWES
Commissioning
Editor
Ex-editor of Prospect
magazine, author and
BBC presenter and
contributor.
Skilled economic and
political commentator.