The Verge Business desk sits where money, power, and consumer tech collide. Pitches win there when they show a business mechanic — not a product. This guide covers how The Verge Business reporters actually decide what's worth a story.

The Verge treats business as a power story: who captures the margin, who absorbs the risk, who pays more. Expect coverage of platform economics, pricing and subscriptions, labor and organizing, antitrust and regulation, AI business models, and the gap between startup narrative and unit economics.

The desk is skeptical of hype and allergic to press-release framing. A funding round is not a story; the structure of the deal, the incentive it creates, or the worker it displaces is.

Consumer impact is the recurring thread. If a business decision changes what someone pays, gets, or can do, that's the Verge angle — even when the press release is about enterprise software.

Start with the two names in our directory: Josh Dzieza, a senior editor whose bylines lean into tech labor, gig work, and the human supply chain behind AI; and Ash Parrish, whose beat blends gaming and culture with the business of games — layoffs, labor, and where the money in the industry actually goes.

Treat that as a starting point, not the whole of the The Verge Business reporters list. The Verge's staff page, Muck Rack profiles, and reporters' own recent bylines together give you the accurate, current picture.

Beat overlap is the norm, not the exception. A story about game-industry unionization could plausibly land with either reporter — read the last five bylines before you choose a recipient.

The Verge Business journalists respond to receipts. Court filings, public pricing changes over time, layoff trackers, SEC disclosures, and internal documents do more work than any pitch paragraph.

Show the incentive, then the cost. "Company X raised prices 38% in three years while cutting support staff" beats "Company X announces growth."

The best three-sentence pitch names the mechanism, the person affected, and the proof you can hand over. If you can't supply the third, you don't have a pitch yet.

Labor and platform-power stories hold particular value because they combine money and consequence. Bring a worker with a name, a policy with a paper trail, or a number that no one has published.

Data wins when it's yours. Build the dataset yourself — pricing across 50 plans, severance terms from 20 filings — and the pitch becomes a story only The Verge can tell with you.

Find current The Verge Business journalists contacts through the outlet's own staff directory first, then cross-check LinkedIn, X, and Muck Rack for beat and recent work. Never work from a stale scrape — Verge staff move between desks, and a misaddressed pitch reads as spam.

First contact should be short, plain text, and free of attachments. Roughly 150 words, one specific ask, and the evidence offer in the final line.

Embargoes and exclusives are welcome when they're explicit and time-bound. State the terms in the first email; don't spring them after a reply.

For genuine documents and leaks, use the outlet's published tip channels and secure-drop guidance rather than a reporter's inbox. Reserve the general tip line for material, not for pitching.

Follow up once, after roughly three business days, with one new fact. A second silent chase damages the relationship more than it recovers the pitch.

• Read five recent bylines from the reporter before sending anything.
• Put the number in the subject line — dollar amount, percentage, or document name.
• Name the mechanism in sentence one and the affected person in sentence two.
• Offer evidence, not access: a memo, a dataset, a named source.
• Confirm the contact via the staff directory and one social profile.
• Keep it under 200 words, no attachments, no newsletter links.
• State embargo or exclusivity terms up front if they exist.
• Follow up once with a new fact, then stop.

The consistent winner with The Verge Business reporters is a documented, specific, slightly uncomfortable story about money and power. Bring the paperwork and skip the positioning.