Adam Hansmann built The Athletic from a single-city launch into a global subscription newsroom acquired by The New York Times, betting early that readers would pay directly for sports journalism built around trusted local experts rather than relying on ads. That experience, built market by market around the most passionate fans, shapes how he invests now: he looks for products that earn genuine trust and daily habit, and he brings firsthand knowledge of how hard it is to raise money and stay steady through the ups and downs of building something new.