We’re 5. And changing our spots.

Dear Reader, we have a special surprise for you.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ Dear Dear Reader,   Good afternoon. This day five years ago, we started The Ken on a wing and a prayer.    We thought we could persuade at least a few thousand people to pay for business journalism that was stripped clean of advertisers, sponsors, trackers, lists, awards, networking events, hidden agendas, jargon, press releases and shallow analyses. And instead was re-created ground up to appeal to just one person. The subscriber.   Being small and relatively inexperienced, we chose to focus our efforts on what became our signature product - the daily long-form feature story. We built our newsroom around fewer, more talented writers who were given the time and freedom to find, report and write business stories that few others would. Stories that were original, analytical, deeply reported and sharply narrated.   Today, over 300,000 registered subscribers, like you, read our stories each week. Over 30,000 of them are premium subscribers.   Thus, as we turn 5, we can no longer hide behind inexperience or size as reasons to not do much more.    So, we’re once again going the route of the wing and the prayer. We want you, Dear Reader, to think of The Ken as the only business subscription you need.   It’s an ambitious order, I agree. But each of us at The Ken is crystal clear that it’s what’s required in order to once again appeal to just one person. You, the subscriber.   We’re staking our tomorrow on staying relevant for you. So here’s what we’re launching for you today.   1. New Newsletters - we’re retiring Beyond The First Order, our post-pandemic newsletter and replacing it with seven new weekly newsletters. Themed around the subjects we know are of most interest to our smart and curious subscribers, our new newsletters will dramatically widen the scope of The Ken’s coverage. In addition to our deep coverage of Startups, Internet, E-commerce, Healthcare, Fintech and Telecom, we’re also adding the following: Fintech & Personal Finance Edtech Climate tech E-commerce & Retail Crypto The Business of Sports Narrative Storytelling I won't give away more details about these newsletters now but will leave it to my talented colleagues who are the respective writers to introduce themselves over the week. All of these newsletters will be only for our premium subscribers.    2. New Visual Stories - we’ve been working for the last few months on a wonderful new product that allows subscribers to visually explore and consume our journalism. Launching next week, this product places the consistently excellent infographics that enrich our stories at the front and centre of the subscriber experience.    It’s hard to explain this in words. So please wait till next week for the launch. We promise you, it’s great.   3. New Plans - last year we expanded our newsroom to add coverage from Southeast Asia’s biggest economies - Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. Since we launched our Southeast Asia subscription, one of the most common requests from our India subscribers has been for a joint subscription plan. Because the similarities across these countries are enabling founders, professionals, investors and business models to blur country boundaries. Gojek’s biggest developer location is India while Sequoia India’s base is Singapore. Borders don’t contain innovation. So, in addition to our Premium plan, we’re launching two brand new plans:   Borderless - access to all of our stories from India and Southeast Asia Echelon - our most exclusive subscription, with access to all our journalism and a bonus subscription Over the next year, expect numerous new features and products to find their way into these plans. That’s our promise.   Thank you for staying with me till here, and with The Ken till now. We know your time and attention are more valuable than your money. We’re privileged to have them, and will continue to strive to earn them. Our new newsletters, products and plans are a reflection of that.   If you were waiting silently, wondering when would be a good time to experience 100% unadulterated and pure subscriber-only business journalism, then the time is now. Become a premium subscriber to The Ken.   And do tell us what more you’d like from us. Because we truly want you to think of The Ken as the only business subscription you need.   Seema Singh, Rohin Dharmakumar and Sumanth Raghavendra Co-founders, writers and dreamers       What you just read is subscriber communication by The Ken. Someone sent it to you? Sign up for free. Don't like these? You can unsubscribe. Want to manage your emails? Click here.