Founder and Publisher, Dead Horse Media, LLC
Greater New York City Area
- Current
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- Founder and Publisher at Dead Horse Media, LLC
- Past
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- Editor in Chief at Mediabistro.com
- Contributing Writer at New York Magazine
- Founding Editor at Gawker.com
- Education
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- Duke University
- Connections
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139
connections
- Industry
- Online Media
- Websites
Elizabeth Spiers’s Summary
My company, Dead Horse Media, (founded in March '06) produces niche news and commentary websites. Properties include DealBreaker.com (a Wall Steet gossip site), AboveTheLaw.com (a legal gossip site), Supermogul.com (a general business management site) and Fashionista.com (a fashion site.) Prior to founding Dead Horse, I had a year-long stint as editor in chief of mediabistro.com, an online trade publication and career site for media professionals. I was brought in to redesign the site and launch several topical blogs, which we did. I left in November '05 after selling my first novel. The book, titled AND THEY ALL DIE IN THE END, will be published by Riverhead/Penguin in 2007.
Prior to mediabistro, I worked at New York magazine (September '03 - Nov '04), as a contributing writer, editing the front-of-the-book Intelligencer column and writing pieces about entertainment, media and business. I got hired at New York after starting Gawker.com in December '02 with Gawker Media publisher Nick Denton, as the founding editor.
Further back, I worked in technology and finance as a strategy consultant for a systems integrator called Galt Consulting and later, as a buy-side tech equity analyst, analyzing stocks for a handful of small family-run hedge funds (May '00-December '02). Prior to Galt, I worked for TheSquare.com (a small online alumni/student network) for seven months as a marketing director.
Elizabeth Spiers’s Specialties:
weblogs, finance, editing, writing, online publishing
Elizabeth Spiers’s Experience
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Founder and Publisher
Dead Horse Media, LLC
(Online Media industry)
January 2006 — Present (2 years 7 months)
Dead Horse Media produces niche websites that incorporate blog and wiki components. Current properties include DealBreaker.com (a Wall Street gossip site) and AboveTheLaw.com (a legal gossip site), with more to come. The sites are free to read and we generate revenue by selling display advertising. Current endemic advertisers include Bloomberg, The Chicago Board of Exchange, and CFA. Both sites cater to a young, highly-educated, affluent demographic. (According to our most recent survey, DealBreaker's median reader income is $205,000/year.) Demographic advertisers include MarquisJet, U.S. Helicopter and The Helium Report.
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Editor in Chief
Mediabistro.com
(Online Media industry)
November 2004 — November 2005 (1 year 1 month)
I managed all the mediabistro editorial functions and redesigned the site with seven (and a half, perhaps) new topical blogs, increasing traffic precipitously. As you'd expect, most of the duties included the usual editorial tasks--commissioning and editing feature pieces, managing writers and deputy editors, and writing columns myself. Not-quite-editorial-but-not-quite-not responsibilities included managing, analyzing and promoting an industry-wide salary survey, working with other departments to develop resources for journalists, and working to promote editorial via events and outside media.
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Contributing Writer
New York Magazine
(Writing and Editing industry)
September 2003 — November 2004 (1 year 3 months)
I worked at the legendary and wonderful New York magazine (under Caroline Miller for 6 months and Adam Moss for 8) editing the magazine's gossip column, writing pieces about entertainment, media and business and developing redesign prototypes with the rest of the staff.
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Founding Editor
Gawker.com
(Online Media industry)
December 2002 — September 2003 (10 months)
Gawker is a weblog about "the darker Manhattan-centric themes: class warfare as recreational sport; pathological status obsession; and the complete, total, and wholly unapologetic embrace of decadence." Gawker was named to Entertainment Weekly's 2003 "IT list", one of Time magazine's "Top 50 Websites" for 2003, a "Best Media Blog" (2003) by Forbes, and a "Best of Breed" online news site by the New York New Media Association. I was named "Best Gossip" by the Village Voice ("Best of New York") in 2003.
Elizabeth Spiers’s Education
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Duke University
B.A., Public Policy/Political Science, 1995 — 1999
Additional Information
Elizabeth Spiers’s Websites:
Elizabeth Spiers’s Honors:
Named one of:
Institutional Investor's "30 Under 30" 2006
Technorati/AlwaysOn's "Open Media 100" 2005
Women's Wear Daily's "Ones to Watch" 2004
Village Voice's "Best Of New York - Best Gossip" 2003
Elizabeth Spiers’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- career opportunities
- consulting offers
- new ventures
- job inquiries
- expertise requests
- business deals
- reference requests
- getting back in touch
