Sarah Personette, the former Vice President of Global Client Solutions at Twitter, has been named CEO of Puck, a news and analysis subscription service founded in 2021. Personette will be taking over the leadership of the young media company as it aims to grow its readership and expand their reporting capabilities.
“I’m thrilled to join the amazing team at Puck, as the company reaches an inflection point poised for immense growth,” said Personette. “There is a large, untapped market for business leaders seeking high quality, nonpartisan news, and deep analysis – one which Puck is uniquely positioned to serve”.
Personette brings over 15 years of experience in digital media and advertising to her new role. Before Twitter, she served as Chief Customer Officer at Refinery29 and held senior sales positions at Facebook and Google. Her advertising technology expertise and relationships with top brands should help Puck attract more ad revenue.
However, her biggest challenge will be accelerating Puck’s paid subscriber growth. The company was launched in December 2021 by media veterans Jon Kelly, Max Tcheyan, and Tina Brown. While its reporting has received critical praise, Puck has reportedly struggled to add subscribers rapidly in a crowded market.
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Personette believes there’s room for a news provider focused purely on serving executives and investors with original information they can’t get elsewhere. “The demand is obvious when you consider the lack of transparency in business news tailored to decision-makers,” she said.
Her priority in the CEO role will be investing in more impactful journalism around deals, finance, technology, media, and politics. Puck aims to cover these areas in great detail rather than chasing the widest audience possible.
The model has shown promise, as influential business figures like LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and telecom billionaire John Malone are said to be among Puck’s earliest backers. But continued success likely hinges on providing elite information money can’t easily buy.
If Puck’s reporting is indispensable enough for power players on Wall Street and Silicon Valley, revenue could still scale. Personette’s sales relationships make her the right leader to court Fortune 500 brands, banks, and PE firms. Her appointment continues the trend of major media companies hiring senior advertising leaders into more creative positions.
While risky, putting Personette in charge signals Puck will explore both subscriptions and advertising without compromising editorial quality. “Brands want more direct alignment with premium content environments. As distribution and discovery get harder, having endemic ads adjacent to Puck’s reporting provides value for both readers and advertisers” said Personette.
Her hire comes amidst a wave of executive shuffles across struggling digital media. Beyond potential synergy with advertisers, Puck hopes Personette’s experience guiding Twitter’s news partnerships business helps them strike more content distribution and licensing deals with platforms.
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Puck will also be keeping an eye on Personette’s former employer Twitter, which she exited last fall before Elon Musk’s takeover. The social media company has since undergone massive cuts while its internal culture grows more turbulent under Musk. Puck’s co-founder Jon Kelly has provided some of the deepest coverage of Musk’s acquisition and the ensuing chaos at Twitter.
With free speech debates intensifying as platforms face regulation, there may be a growing appetite for Puck’s impartial takes on the business dealings reshaping media. Personette’s connections across the industry should enable access few publications.
Her relationships with top marketers could also make Puck an attractive brand safety partner relative to outlets competing mostly on scale. While building a larger readership is still critical, Personette knows advertisers care deeply about running messages next to responsible journalism free of misinformation.
Puck has an opportunity to serve executives exhausted by sensationalism with insightful, nuanced reporting on the power and wealth they crave. Personette believes that by focusing less on volume metrics, the company can deepen ties to influential communities like Wall Street sustainably.
As CEO, her goal will be growing Puck’s readership and making their subscription product a must-have for anyone wanting an advantage in business. With her sales expertise, the company feels they’ve added the right leader to make their reporting essential to decision-makers across industries.
