Dear Reader,
I want to begin this by stressing I’m not a marketer — I’m just a journalist. So, rather than find some kind of spin for the situation Portco News is in, I’d rather just give you the truth.
Portco News is taking an indefinite hiatus. While I’d love to revisit this project in the future, I am moving abroad for at least a year and cannot continue to be self-employed while on my new visa.
As many of you know, Portco News became independent earlier this year after losing its initial funding. Since then, I’ve kept it alive in my spare time, but without financial resources, I was never able to give this project the full attention it deserved.
I’ve always believed in the mission of the publication: to provide insights into the ways that private equity manages its portfolio companies. I believe I’ll return to this mission later in my career. I hope that, when that moment comes, I will have enough time and resources to realize my vision to its fullest potential.
I’m deeply grateful to you, our readers, for making this experiment possible. Together we grew from a few hundred subscribers to nearly 1,500, with open rates more than double the industry average. More importantly, we were able to publish rigorous, undercovered stories about how private equity manages its portfolio companies — work I still believe has immense value for both the industry and the public at large.
For now, I encourage you to continue your free subscription. I won’t send spam, but I do plan to share occasional updates on projects I’m working on, and if Portco News returns, you’ll be the first to know.
If you’re a paid subscriber, I’ll follow up separately with options on how we’ll handle your subscription.
This isn’t goodbye, just a “see you later.” Thank you for reading, supporting, and believing in the mission of Portco News.
Best,
Isabel O’Brien
Editor-in-Chief, Portco News
PS - if you’d like to keep up with my work outside of Portco News, you can subscribe to my personal Substack or check out my website, where I post updates regularly.