It was a ballsy move for Conde Nast to launch their business magazine offering, Portfolio two years ago – a time when magazines such as Forbes and Fortune were struggling to sell ad space.

‘cos every time i seem to fall in love
crash! boom! bang!

The Entrepreneur mentioned it to me and I immediately subscribed. With the subtitle “Business Intelligence,” It was a fresh change to the other mags on offer and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Incidentally, the latest (April 2009) issue I have at The Safe House has a big Zuma feature.

JZ – one of the “stars” of the April 2009 issue

But then, as you may have gathered, came the global economic meltdown – a topic which engulfed the magazine mid way through its very short life. It was global warming the one day and the credit crunch the next; making way for a healthy dose of irony as the magazine has now folded at the hands of that very same recession it discussed at length:

This, from mediamemo:

Portfolio has had its doubters even prior to its launch in 2007. Long before the advertising market cratered, critics worried that the market couldn’t support a fourth business magazine to compete with Forbes, Time Warner’s Fortune (TWX), McGraw-Hill’s BusinessWeek (MHP); they also marveled at the reported $100 million budget that Conde Nast had committed to the launch.

No telling whether that bet would have paid off in a healthier market for the high-end advertising that business magazines thrive on. But the current market is as bad as it could get: In the first three months of 2009, magazine ad pages declined more than 25%, according to an industry trade group, and Portfolio’s pages dropped by more than 60%. Some of that drop stems from the magazine’s move to a 10-issue a year schedule, down from 12 a year.

But Portfolio has been suffering for quite some time. Last fall, the magazine laid off a good portion of its staff, and turned its Web site into a skeleton operation.

Here’s the full statement from Conde Nast group president David Carey.:

Earlier today, Conde Nast announced, quite regrettably, that it is pulling back from its investment in Portfolio.

For this high-profile, 21-issue launch, the recession has helped and hurt the brand. While the unprecedented nature of these times has made business and the economy the main topic of conversation, it has also led to high levels of uncertainty and a tremendous reduction in ad spend in the five key sectors Portfolio’s business model depends on.

The company is deeply grateful to Portfolio’s readers and for the broad support of marketers and executives all around the country.

[more here]

Jesus, it’s pretty hectique out there.

And this is a magazine focused on business and the economy – the very thing that killed it. That, after launching only two years ago – by one of earth’s most powerful and successful publishing groups.

What does that tell you?

Ja, keep it simple, guys.

[thanks jonty]