Overview of Medsider Sponsorships
Sponsored content is a way for Medsider to work with high-integrity, insurgent organizations that might not otherwise attract deep, comprehensive coverage. At Medsider, we believe these types of companies are working on worthwhile problems and are worth talking about.
Though Medsider is paid to produce the content, the selection is not based on a company’s financial willingness to participate. Rather, subjects are chosen based on a set of criteria designed to protect readers’ attention and ensure quality coverage.
Our Selection Process
Medsider’s most important asset is trust. To ensure that is retained, we only work with companies that meet the following (subjective) criteria:
- They have an interesting story to tell. We want every Medsider piece to be better than the last and we are constantly striving to bring the most compelling content into someone’s inbox every week. To that end, we have to feel that a company has an intriguing story for them to be a good fit.
- They are net-good for the world. No medical device or health technology company is unilaterally good or evil. There is nuance in everything. But to produce detailed content on a company, we have to want them to win.
- They are committed to working collaboratively. Medsider only works with partners that want to share new information, publicly. With everything we produce, we want to either talk about something new or analyze something old in a new way. No one is served by re-sharing stale information.
Medsider’s Ethical Code
Beyond the selection process, we try and guard against negative incentives and outcomes by making the following commitments.
- Limited volume. Sponsorship models tend to incentivize volume: the more you publish the more you earn. That is often at the expense of the reader. To guard against that, we publish no more than 1 partner piece per month.
- Pricing is flat. Though effective in other contexts, a commission model has the potential to skew Medsider’s format, style, and coverage. To ensure this is not a factor, Medsider charges a flat fee for both sponsored content and podcast ads. This is done even in situations where a commission model might be more lucrative.
- We maintain creative control. Though we work collaboratively with partners and — as mentioned — want them to win, the final piece is authentically a Medsider creation. Partners are welcomed to comment and provide input but are not given editing access. Doing so would both kill creativity and fundamentally alter the sincerity of the piece.
Next Steps
If you’re interested in partnering with Medsider or would like to see our full media kit, please reach out to our team here.