It wasn't a sketch on a napkin, but a question scribbled in a reporter's notebook: “What if we could identify the early signals of stories before they made headlines?" This is the story of pre-news and how AppliedXL came to be.
Erin Riglin and I first met more than 6 years ago when he was still a graduate student in Columbia's dual journalism & engineering program, and I was an adjunct. Shortly after the semester ended, Erin had joined me at the Wall Street Journal as its first Automation Editor.
Together, we introduced the newsroom to algorithms that uncovered insights within massive government databases, helping reporters break stories that often moved markets.
However, we had a bigger vision that started to brew because we saw the potential to go beyond breaking news. We envisioned a new kind of journalism, one that could focus on anticipating the ripples before they became waves—a new form of business intelligence. As we jotted down our notes after hours, we realized that this approach required new methods that extended beyond the traditional newsroom framework. We needed new technology, new processes, and a new canvas.
So, we left our jobs and started AppliedXL with that vision, which we later defined as pre-news. For the past few years, we've been working to bring it to life. Our clients now include global information providers, Fortune 100 companies, and leading hedge funds.
Today, we are starting to unveil AXL's campaign by advertising legend George Tannenbaum with the slogan "News. Long before it makes the news." on the iconic Nasdaq billboard in Times Square — just blocks from where our journey first began.
We are eager for everyone to see this vision, one that our early supporters have believed in since its inception and have helped us shape into what it is today — Scott, Dan, Brady, Kenneth, Patrick, Jun, Robin, Kendall, Daphne, Todd, Vince, Ian, David, Scott J., Thomas, Angus Macaulay, Michael, Wesley, Shaneel, Ron, Sandiip.
