A little background…

I am Rafe Needleman, an experienced journalist, editorial leader, technology analyst, and content strategist. I am known for my clear communication, insightful perspectives, and curiosity about technology—whether it’s society-shaping innovation or the minutiae of how networks communicate.

A coworker at Cisco once described me as “externally wired,” meaning I always put my audience first. It’s true—once a journalist, always a journalist. Dylan Tweney interviewed me about this.

My career has spanned journalism, corporate content, and agency work. I’ve led editorial teams at CNET, Byte, Yahoo, Make Magazine, and Red Herring. I’ve written daily columns, hosted podcast series, and authored three books. In the communications field, I’ve ghostwritten for Fortune 500 executives and startup founders, coached teams on crafting better stories, and helped startups perfect their pitch decks.

I’ve also worked in Developer Relations at Cisco and Evernote, bridging the gap between product teams and programmers.

Recently, I’ve focused on AI content strategies, exploring how creative expertise can merge with modern tools.

And yes, I will emcee your Star Trek Trivia night—for a few quatloos, of course.

Some of my publications

  • Make: Magazine

    I was editor-in-chief at Maker Media, a mission-driven organization core to the maker movement. Maker Media publishes Make Magazine, Makezine.com, and a series of books. Maker Media also produces the amazing community events known as Maker Faires.

  • Caller Calls Back

    My Guide to Technology Etiquette is based on the observation that every new communications technology brings with it an awkward social puzzle, from business emails to mobile phone calls to dating apps. On CallerCallsBack.com I explore the most polite way to use each new medium.

  • Yahoo! Tech

    I joined Yahoo in 2014 to launch Yahoo Tech with David Pogue. It became one of the Web's largest consumer tech sites. I set the strategy and the daily direction for the site, working with writers and Yahoo product managers, and I edited our marquee columnists.

  • CNET

    I was at CNET for two stints, 1996-1998 and 2004-2012. I ran small-business content; led hardware reviews; reported for CNET News; co-hosted the Buzz Out Loud podcast and launched the Reporters Roundtable, a weekly deep dive into a single tech topic or company.

  • Pro PR Tips

    I have received thousands of pitches from PR pros. To stay sane, I started a blog to chronicle what I saw were the recurring mistakes PR people made. I turned that into a book, sponsored by a business that tracked tech media.

  • Business 2.0

    I was a columnist for this new-age business magazine, writing prognostications about future tech for the monthly magazine and the Web site.

  • Red Herring

    This media property was one of the most important voices of the dotcom economy. I ran its Web site and wrote a daily emailed column, Catch of the Day, that was default morning reading for founders and venture capitalists.

  • Byte

    It was an honor to serve as editor-in-chief of one of the original computer magazines, during the beginning of the Web era. I helped this publication launch one of the first tech media Web sites.

  • Corporate Computing

    I was the launch editor for this Ziff-Davis publication, the "magazine of the reengineering era." We covered the transitional era when businesses began to move from mainframes and minicomputers to PCs.

  • PC/Computing

    This was a lushly produced computer magazine from Ziff-Davis. I ran product reviews and news, and wrote a column for it.

  • InfoWorld: Understanding Networks

    When I was the reviews editor for the trade weekly InfoWorld, I wrote this primer on local-area networks. As with many of my projects, a big reason I took it on was to learn about the topic.

  • The Official Star Trek Trivia Book

    My first book. I wrote it while I was in high school, as a summer project and a way to do something with my combination of nerdiness and an urge to publish.