With all of the challenges around news now, how has Ground changed over time? For example, the side-by-side story narrative feature within Ground.news allows for comparison of reports and gives an opportunity for smaller news organizations to have their work featured along with much larger publications - what other unique features does Ground have?

The biggest change has been the
development of Ground’s paid subscription. Interestingly enough, the idea came
about due to inbound interest from the news organizations. A couple of months
after launching Ground we started receiving emails from news organizations like
ABC saying we love what you’re doing and we would like you to feature more of
our content on Ground. This led us to study the economics of the news industry
and the financial picture is eye-popping. Most news organizations make a penny
— or even less — for an article read by a news consumer. Thus, we came up with
the subscription model where we will be able to provide news organizations with
3-5 times the revenue they’re making today and without no brand dilution from
advertising. So please watch out for our paid subscription launching this
summer!

One of my colleagues wanted me to ask you: What parallels do you see, if any, between the engineering world and the business world? Are there skills you developed as an engineer that you’ve found useful in business? Are there business lessons you think engineers could learn from?

Very interesting question!

I think engineering is all about
problem solving. An engineer breaks down a complex problem and tries to find
the best solution.

Business is more about solutions.
But bigger picture, it’s about how solutions to different problems come
together. I think engineers can learn from the business world to be more flexible
while business people can learn from engineers to strive for the best solutions
and not compromise.

What are your hopes for the future ? 

We aim to be THE digital news
product of choice. We want people to start paying for news again with a
business model and price that works for them; and in turn help with the
sustainability of the news industry by providing small and large newsrooms all
around the world with a sustainable revenue source.

How can people best stay updated with you and what’s new with the Ground app?

The best way to stay up to date
with Ground is to download our app. And, make
sure you update it regularly. Our team launches new features every two weeks.
The latest is called ‘My News Bias’ and it’s an opportunity for Ground’s users
to see their preferences, habits and reading tendencies, such as which news
category frequently catches their attention or which news sources they most prefer.
I was definitely surprised by my own results!

Here is the link for Ground’ iPhone and Android app.