The Atavist Magazine started as an idea between Jefferson Rabb, Evan Ratliff, and Nicholas Thompson, after a few drinks.

After raising 1.5 Million[3] in seed money from Silicon Valley, the first issue of The Atavist Magazine was published on November 1st 2011.

The first edition was the story "Piano Demon" by Brendan I. Koerner, who had previously worked with The New York Times and Wired.

[3] Along with the magazine, Creativist Software was also launched by the founders, which has been used by The Paris Review, Pearson, ⁣The Christian Science Monitor and Vice.

[1][5] In the beginning of 2012 the multimedia Brightline, later known as Atavist Books, was launched in partnership with Barry Diller, Scott Rudin, and Frances Coady.