Get Known. S4 E6 - Thomas Macaulay from The Next Web (TNW)

In this episode, we had the pleasure of talking with Thomas Macaulay from The Next Web (TNW) where he covers a wide range from startups to the tech ecosystem across Europe. Thomas had quite an indirect and inspiring route to becoming a journalist proving that a degree in journalism or communications is not the only path to success in tech journalism. 

In addition to his unique background and the development of TNW from a blog to the media and events organization it is today, we discuss the development of tech stories and the process of writing about very technical topics for a mass audience.  We also discuss the commercial and journalistic balance that must be combined to benefit all of TNW’s different businesses.   As we have spoken with many journalists on this podcast, the economics of journalism have changed significantly over the years as the internet and expectation of free content have had a massive impact.  We discuss how it is much more difficult to build a viable business on journalism alone and where that leaves reporting and his own job in this day and age. 

If you want to get Thomas excited about your tech story, he loves the more weird and wacky tech or things that have real human impact. We talk about his most recent work focused on the surprisingly boring business-driven pitching needed to raise money for a psychedelic startup. Our conversation into this topic actually provided insight into how the team at TNW works in pitching to their editors, developing the angle, and getting out 1 to 2 stories a day with their small team of 5 journalists.  Of course, we also talk about the relationship between “PRs” and journalists,  the massive amount of pitches received daily, how to stand out among all those potential stories, and what pushes Tuomas over the edge to take a story. 

To contact Thomas, he is best reached by email at thomas@thenextweb.com.  You can keep up with The Next Web conferences on https://thenextweb.com/events .