"The magazine was being started by a company that had no experience in business magazine publishing. It was a little difficult to get people to sort of buy into it and to join the staff, but we did"
About this Quote
The intent is pragmatic, even disarming. Daly isn't selling a heroic origin myth, he's spotlighting the unglamorous hurdle: recruiting talent when the backers can't point to a track record. The subtext is about reputational risk in media culture, especially in the mid-century ecosystem where gatekeeping was tight and careers were tethered to institutional legitimacy. Staffers don't just take jobs; they affiliate their names with a brand. If the brand is unproven, you're asking people to bet their professional future on your optimism.
"And to join the staff, but we did" lands like a curtain line. It's not triumphal; it's earned. The "we" matters: success is framed as a social feat, not a managerial one. Daly is pointing at the alchemy of early teams - the leap from skepticism to momentum - where conviction substitutes for credentials until the work starts proving itself. In a media landscape that still fetishizes disruption, the quote feels current: the hardest part isn't printing pages, it's persuading skilled people that the gamble is worth taking.
Quote Details
| Topic | Startup |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Daly, James. (2026, January 15). The magazine was being started by a company that had no experience in business magazine publishing. It was a little difficult to get people to sort of buy into it and to join the staff, but we did. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-magazine-was-being-started-by-a-company-that-167649/
Chicago Style
Daly, James. "The magazine was being started by a company that had no experience in business magazine publishing. It was a little difficult to get people to sort of buy into it and to join the staff, but we did." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-magazine-was-being-started-by-a-company-that-167649/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The magazine was being started by a company that had no experience in business magazine publishing. It was a little difficult to get people to sort of buy into it and to join the staff, but we did." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-magazine-was-being-started-by-a-company-that-167649/. Accessed 19 Feb. 2026.


