“I’ll see in 2022 if I can turn The SF Minute into an actual business that’s somewhat sustainable”

Five Questions With Local Newsletter Author Nick Bastone

I love me a good newsletter, especially one that lets us all keep up with local news in a succinct and actionable way. So when The SF Minute started, I was really excited and it’s been a fun collection of serious and not-so-serious SF stories, links and weekend events calendars. I recently had the chance to ask Five Questions of Nick Bastone, its founder and main author. Here they are!

Hunter Walk: Ok, I read SF Minute every weekday. While the title itself is pretty descriptive on its own, how do you explain the newsletter to people and how’d it get started?

Nick Bastone: Of course. And first off, thanks so much for having me here!

The SF Minute is a San Francisco-based newsletter that highlights the top local stories of the day. Basically, every Monday through Friday, I read through all the local publications and summarize the news that I think is the most interesting and important. The result is an email that takes (get this!) only a minute or two to read.

I started The SF Minute earlier this year sort of for selfish reasons. I wanted to learn more about what was happening in San Francisco and (although we have some good publications here) I wasn’t satisfied with any particular product that brought the news together in a simple way. So, I thought I’d give it a try.

HW: You started your career at Square and Faire, before becoming a tech reporter. Why’d you leave tech reporting (for now)?!? Tech reporters with actual startup company experience are exactly what we need!!!

NB: Good question!

Having worked in tech, I do think it helped me as a reporter in some ways, like having good instincts on which stories to chase and being comfortable talking with sources from the start. But business experience wasn’t everything. At The Information, for instance, I covered Google and a huge part of that beat was reporting on all the antitrust cases the company faced. Working my tech jobs — which were mostly in sales and operations — didn’t necessarily prepare me to report antitrust law or know which DC…