Though speculation continues to rage over Portfolio's future, higher ups at Condé say the magazine is meeting expectations. "We're extremely pleased with Portfolio," said Wallace. "It is all or more than what we hoped it to be and the same is true of our Web site. The newsstand sales and subscription growth are right where we want them to be, the ad side is tracking to solid growth and the size and performance of the Web site are way beyond what we expected."

Portfolio plans to raise its rate base again in the fall from 350,000. Advertising has grown to 226 pages so far this year, including ads from new clients Mercedes-Benz, Dolce & Gabbana, Walt Disney Corp. and Fairmont Hotels & Resorts (travel is one of Portfolio's fastest-growing categories). Comparatively, Fortune's ad pages have fallen 15 percent to 428 pages, and BusinessWeek's have fallen 24 percent to 430 ad pages through March 31, according to Media Industry Newsletter. And its Web site, overseen by Dan Colarusso, has seen traffic increase to 3 million unique page views a month.

Outsiders agree that Portfolio is on the right path. George Janson, managing partner, director of print for media buying agency Mediaedge:cia, said, "The magazine is still finding its way editorially. I think they've had some covers that have missed, like the hamburger [February's cover], but I think they've had some very superb writing. The big challenge would seem to be attracting a subscriber base. I would love for this magazine to succeed — it would be good for the industry."

Looking back at the title's first year, Portfolio's growing pains weren't as difficult compared with another launch Lipman oversaw at The Wall Street Journal, where she spent 22 years before joining Condé Nast. The 2002 redesign of the entire paper and the introduction of the Personal Journal section was under way when the 9/11 terrorist attacks destroyed the Journal's offices across the street from the World Trade Center. Months of work was lost in the damaged offices, and the staff was displaced to South Brunswick, N.J. The Personal Journal, Lipman said, "was conceived in coffee shops on the Upper West Side." Soon after that launch, Lipman found out she had breast cancer, and underwent simultaneous chemotherapy and radiation treatments. At that time, WSJ. managing editor Paul Steiger gave Lipman another project: exploring a new Saturday edition for the paper.