Tired: Mostly Cloudy. Wired: Runtime
Welcome to Mostly Cloudy! Today: Area Man starts enterprise tech news site.
Credit: Google
Now with fewer weather puns
After Protocol shut down while I was on vacation last November, I took some time to figure out what to do next. That was an immense privilege, and over the last few months and countless conversations with many of you, I realized that the time was right to start an enterprise tech media company that covered this industry with the depth and respect it deserves.
Meet Runtime.
Earlier this year I acquired the list of subscribers to the former Protocol Enterprise newsletter — which I started in January 2020 and oversaw until Protocol’s last day — from Politico Media Group. The folks at Politico Media Group wanted me to make clear that Runtime is in no way associated with Politico or Protocol, and, for the record, I am extremely happy to make that distinction.
In computer science, the concept of “runtime” is crucial; it’s the moment of truth, when software is executing the instructions given to it by its creator in order to let you buy something over the internet, to run an inventory check across multiple warehouse locations, or to stream a series of videos of cats doing hilarious things you simply won’t believe until you see them.
Runtime will help business leaders understand which enterprise tech companies, concepts, and emerging technologies can (and can’t) help their companies grow and thrive during a period of intense change for buyers and sellers of information technology. Topics we’ll cover include:
cloud infrastructure
enterprise software
cybersecurity
AI
data management
software development
enterprise hardware
Starting in May, Runtime subscribers will receive a free newsletter three times a week with original reporting, interviews with the people shaping this world, and a roundup of the best coverage from across the enterprise technology landscape. We’ll also publish in-depth coverage of this world on runtime.news, host virtual events, and more; if you liked what Protocol Enterprise brought to this world, you’ll love what Runtime has in store.
For ten years I've been proud to serve this community — all but ignored by mainstream business publications despite its central role in the modern economy — with the high-quality journalism it deserves, reporting that pushes past vendor talking points and demystifies complicated concepts in language that can be understood by people who just learned what a runtime is yet appreciated by those who have been coding since middle school.
Mostly Cloudy subscribers won’t be transferred to Runtime; I’m guessing there’s a fair amount of overlap between former Protocol Enterprise readers and Mostly Cloudy readers, but I encourage you to sign up on our new site if you didn’t receive the other launch email from the former Protocol Enterprise list (and tell me which version you liked better).
Thanks to everybody who has supported Mostly Cloudy over the last several years. This will be the last post here for the foreseeable future, but now you know where to find me.