Orientation Week
Lessons learned:
Sponsored content/branded content/native advertising: Whatever we call it, it's how new media companies see the future of revenue and profitability for the journalism business. And there are different ways to get there. Models include creating a platform for writers to connect to companies to create content (Contently), assigning sponsored themes to a features team that sits in the news department (Mashable), or enforcing a total separation between news and business (Buzzfeed).
Mobile and personalization are really important too. From the Buzzfeed visit: "Mobile first, not desktop. Social first, not search."
Awful things on the Internet (slideshows, clickbait viral headlines) don't just annoy me, they're unsustainable, because the platforms relied on to generate traffic, such as Google or Facebook, can easily change the rules to put the perpetrators out of business. Plus, you're alienating your users. And we need users to champion our ventures.
Agreed upon everywhere: hard news doesn't have to abide by the same metrics as cats. Traction and traffic are very different things (Ben Smith). Still, analytics are extremely critical to understanding everything everyone does online and it seems most of the companies we visited are creating their own tools for data analysis.
When it comes to fundraising, more than one entrepreneur emphasized looking at actual cash needs rather than trying to raise too much too soon. Stick with what's necessary, build something and get it out there, and start getting into the feedback loop that will improve the end product. Another founder explained the tradeoffs between raising a lot of money and the constraints on exit strategies. Angels and VCs expect such a large return on their investment that it can limit a company's flexibility in some ways, forcing the founders to think bigger by necessity. Companies such as Mashable and Muckrack have gotten pretty far with minimal outside investment.
Ask for advice first, not money. In the early days when you need money it's best to have a pre-existing relationship with the people who will back you. And make a spreadsheet of all the people you want to talk to and start looking for ways to make connections, whether through other contacts, research on LinkedIn, or plain old cold-emailing. Build a stable of advisors, who should not be looking for a chunk of your company off the bat.
Some of our experiences confirmed some of my hunches about what I want to do. The example of The Dodo, a RebelMouse community focused on animal stories, shows how niche media can be championed by some of the top people in the business and get significant financial backing and press attention. (Of course, it helps to have a Ken Lerer behind a venture.) VCs will look for incredible growth prospects and/or a passionate group of users that is hyper-engaged.
Samuel Beckett inadvertently wrote the motto of the startup/entrepreneurial spirit: "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better." Keep learning and find your own path. Most ideas don't work out, some business models have to go through multiple iterations, and some companies spend thousands a year to renew domain names that will never see the light of content.
Common sense about human relations: Resolve people tensions quickly, talk in person and avoid email wars, and watch what you say because everyone talks and gossips.
Competition is verification that you're on the right path. (Paul Berry)
You are better at almost anything than you think you are. (Contently)
My fellow fellows are amazing. I've decided my long-term goal is to become an angel investor so that I can fund great people and ideas like theirs. To get there, though, I'm going to have to make a successful business first.