The Autopian: Building the ‘Rebel Alliance’ of Independent Media

David Tracy and Jason Torchinsky—two prolific writers and veterans of traditional media—along with TV personality Beau Boeckmann, started The Autopian in 2022. The mission is simple: champion car culture by creating fun, engaging content for the automotive community.

A friend of the co-founders, Matt Hardigree officially joined The Autopian as co-owner and publisher with a goal of expanding on that mission. “I want to do great work, but I also want to save media,” he says. “I want to give journalists jobs and I want to give readers a website that doesn’t have seven million ads or is completely paywalled.”

Below, hear from Matt about how The Autopian transformed the traditional media structure and forged its own independence by establishing a membership-driven revenue model.

Lessons from The Autopian

• Passionate audiences will migrate to new platforms when their favorite creators move
• The Autopian launched membership in response to reader requests, ensuring product-market fit from day one
• Owning your revenue model and business structure protects against industry volatility and enables long-term planning
• Paying members become customers whose feedback matters and gets acted upon, creating a virtuous improvement cycle

Breaking Free From Broken Media Models

The Autopian’s founding team—veterans of Gawker, Gizmodo, and Jalopnik—saw firsthand how traditional media economics fail both creators and audiences. Matt describes the industry’s core problem: companies are caught between legacy media’s reliance on a sales-driven model and private equity’s unrealistic growth expectations. The pandemic only accelerated this crisis, leaving independent creators stuck in the middle. As Matt explains it, when media companies don’t own their revenue model, the people creating the content—in this case, journalists—become expendable.

He believes there has to be a better way. “There’s a way to have a journalist-led, sustainable, profitable, awesome, influential media company in the 21st century,” says Matt.

In launching The Autopian, the team successfully tested the hypothesis that as writers and creators, their most valuable asset wasn’t individual articles or ideas—it was their community of engaged readers.

Establishing the Membership Model

The site’s early traffic success demonstrated demand, but the real validation came from audience feedback. Readers proactively asked how they could support the site financially. The Autopian responded by launching their membership program in December 2022, and hundreds signed up within days.

Rather than relying solely on advertising revenue, membership became the foundation of their business model. This strategic choice delivered three major advantages:

• Revenue stability: Unlike advertising rates that fluctuate throughout the year, membership provides predictable recurring revenue that enables confident business planning.
• Reader alignment: Members are customers, not products being sold to advertisers. This fundamental shift changes the relationship from extraction to mutual value creation.

Sustainable quality: Stable revenue allows The Autopian to maintain low ad density and prioritize reader experience over pageview optimization.

The Business Impact of a Membership Platform

The data confirmed what the team suspected: a membership site transforms reader investment and behavior. Paid members consume significantly more content, share stories more frequently, and engage with the newsletter at higher rates than non-paying visitors.

“If we could make all of our money from membership, I would 100% do that,” says Matt. “It is the best money we make. We’ve found a way to balance advertising and membership in a way that works for our audience, for the journalists, and for our business.”

This revenue model creates a virtuous cycle. Members feel invested in the site’s success, provide direct feedback that shapes editorial decisions, and become advocates who drive organic growth through word-of-mouth. In addition, membership revenue also gives the team leverage when members voice concerns. Because they’re paying customers rather than anonymous visitors, their feedback carries weight and gets acted upon.

Looking Ahead: Building a Network of Independent Media Sites

Since establishing strong membership revenue, the team’s short-term goal is to build out sustainable revenue sources to keep the site readable and ad density low.

“Membership is a really big piece of this,” says Matt. “I want it to provide a larger percentage of our revenue because memberships provide a solid, predictable, every-month stream.”

The Autopian’s success with membership has also enabled an ambitious long-term goal: build a network of independent media properties. Drawing from experience at large media companies, the team understands the power of the network effect. Cross-promotion between sites can drive 10-25% traffic increases for smaller properties.

The vision is to create what Matt calls a “Rebel Alliance of media companies.” A system where independent creators with dedicated communities can benefit from shared infrastructure and cross-promotion. Within a few years, the goal is to have multiple profitable sites that members can have access to within one package.

This approach addresses a key challenge in independent media: proving that journalist-led companies can be both sustainable and influential without sacrificing editorial independence or reader experience.

Generate Sustainable Revenue With Memberful

For The Autopian, membership isn’t just a revenue stream. It’s proof of concept. As Matt puts it: “Membership is just proof that people care,” he says. “If there are hundreds of people willing to pay, that’s proof that for every one of those individuals, there are hundreds or thousands of other people who care.”

This philosophy extends beyond The Autopian. The team believes they’re demonstrating a viable alternative to an industry in flux. One where independent creators own their work, readers become partners, and quality journalism can thrive without compromising values for venture returns.

The membership model works because it aligns incentives. Members want great content and a sustainable publication. The Autopian wants to create that content and build a lasting business. Membership makes both possible.

Do you run an independent media site? Memberful enables publishers to diversify revenue streams and align with audience needs’—without sacrificing ownership of brand, finances, and content. Learn more about using Memberful to power your publication.