Program

Opening Keynote: Start-up Lessons Learned with Rafat Ali
Join Rafat Ali, founder of news site paidContent, for a live interview and Q&A session. Learn how to identify if your business idea is viable and how to start once you decide it is. We'll review how the basic principles of good journalism can translate to startup culture, and you'll hear from Rafat about his own experience making the move from journalist to tech entrepreneur.

'Lean Thinking' with Eric Ries
How will your business shape your industry and how can you be sure your startup has the potential to be viable? Join Eric Ries, author, entrepreneur, and thought leader, for a discussion of The Lean Startup movement. We'll review how to apply "lean thinking" to your business practices and how to maximize your company's potential and minimize costs by communicating with your customers. We'll also touch on how to convey this information in the industry analysis of your business plan.

Your Audience as Client: Rethinking Content Creation as a Service Business
How can a content-driven business best understand and respond to its audience? Why is this the only way to turn a profit? Learn how to invest in your audience from online entrepreneur Michelle Madhok. She launched SheFinds Media in 2004 with no outside funding and grew the personal shopping site into the powerhouse blog network it is today, including SheFinds.com, MomFinds.com, and BrideFinds.com.

The Importance of Defining a Need for Your Product
It's essential to demonstrate a clear market need for your product. Every startup needs to prove that its product or service improves upon the competition or provides something new to the market. Join John Tayman -- founder of Byliner.com, a startup that publishes long-form journalism -- for a discussion of how to best identify your product or service niche. He'll explain how to make clear to your audience (and potential investors) that you're delivering something unique -- and viable -- and he'll share how he pitched Byliner.com.

Understanding the Financials: Securing Funding for Your Startup
Winning over investors starts with having a solid business model and plan, but it doesn’t end there. Join Alexa Andrzejewski, cofounder of the power start-up Foodspotting, a visual food guide boasting almost one million app downloads, for a live interview on funding your startup. She'll discuss how she launched Foodspotting in 2009, raising $750k in seed funding and $3 million in Series A funding later that year. Alexa will cover how to know how much capital you need to launch your project, how to approach investors, and what to do once you secure capital.

Assessing Your Content Strategy: Entrepreneurial Journalism Models that Worked
What are the key issues entrepreneurial journalists should consider when launching a company? CUNY professor and influential blogger Jeff Jarvis reviews case studies of successfully launched news startups and discusses the key factors that make for a viable startup media business.

Creating and Maintaining Your Network
Learn how to use social media to build your launch team and spread the word about your startup. Columbia professor Sree Sreenivasan discusses the best social media marketing practices for establishing an audience and covers the free resources available to startups.

Taking the Next Step with Your Business Plan: Community Building Lessons Learned with Laurel Touby
Join mediabistro.com founder Laurel Touby for an exclusive interview and Q&A session. Learn tips and techniques for successfully pitching your project and how to build a community to get your business off the ground. We'll discuss how to focus in on the core components of your business plan and how to translate those key elements in your pitch.

Live Venture Capitalist Critique
Boot Camp participants will vote on the top three most viable business plans developed in this course. Venture-capitalist-turned-business-advisor Larry Kramer, who serves on the boards of Discovery Communications, American Media, and Answers.com, will weigh in on which plans he considers most likely to succeed. In addition, he will offer tips on what to include in your plan to get the attention of a VC and how to prepare yourself in advance for the questions you'll be asked. All participants will have the opportunity to participate in the Q&A with Larry.