Synopsis

The media startup that I studied this semester is called The Logic. The Logic is a Canadian news outlet founded by David Skok that features the people, policies and organizations that lead transformational change within the innovation economy. The news outlet is committed to reporting fairly, factually and compassionately so that its readers have access to intelligent and insightful journalism. By researching society’s current innovative habits, The Logic aims to provide its readers with insight on Canada’s development to generate conversation about the country’s future and ultimately make it a better place to live and work.

Developing the Case Study

The process of reviewing several aspects of the media startup called for diligence and patience. The media case study required a description of the startup, itself, as well as an analysis of the startup’s business model canvas, financial management, market and competition. In order to grasp an adequate understanding of each of these elements of the business, I focused my attention on one at a time. It was helpful to have this case study assigned as a mandatory work in progress, as we were required to turn in the market and competitive analyses for Professor Schmitz Weiss’ review before the due date for the entire assignment. This way, we were able to receive feedback for these sections and make adjustments to them accordingly. For the other parts of the assignment, I made sure to research each element extensively to ensure that I did not miss a crucial component of the business in my report.

While this assignment helped me to further understand the development of and details behind a startup, I did face some challenges along the way. On a more general level, I could have managed my time better during the completion of this case study. If I were to have started earlier in the semester and worked on it gradually, I would not have had to try so hard to balance this project with assignments that my other professors assigned as the semester progressed. In terms of specific challenges, it was difficult for me to perform in-depth research on The Logic and become familiar with its material because I am not subscribed to the outlet. Though I could work around it, I believe that my case study could have been more articulate of The Logic’s strengths and weaknesses if I had full access to the startup’s work. Another minor challenge that I came across while working on the case study was the lack of information on the startup’s financial management. I would have liked to complete this section of the case study more thoroughly, but there was not enough information provided online about The Logic’s finances in order to do so. Luckily Professor Schmitz Weiss was understanding of this situation and provided us with instructions on what to do if we were faced with this obstacle. While challenges can be frustrating, they force us to think in methodical ways that we may otherwise avoid.

While it is important to learn the basics of any subject in a classroom, it is difficult to grasp a full understanding of how an industry functions from a lecture. The business industry, specifically, is one that is best understood by first-hand experience. While my experience was not a traditional “hands-on” experience with a mentor, I was able to gain a more in-depth understanding of the intricacy of entrepreneurship by focusing on The Logic and the processes that its founder David Skok took to build it. Now that I have focused on one particular media startup, I am able to recognize what actually goes in to forming a business. This case study was a perfect opportunity to apply what I learned in class to a realistic scenario, which further heightened my knowledge about the industry and provided me with a more developed understanding of the logistics of entrepreneurship.

The Entrepreneurial Mindset

Entrepreneurs must adopt a specific mindset in order to successfully pursue their careers. These people must be innovative risk-takers who are able to critically and creatively think and solve problems. The entrepreneur that I interviewed, Kevin Gelfand, supported this claim in every way. Shake Smart was a huge risk for Gelfand, as he started the company with barely any money and a loan that he saved from his grandmother. Gelfand was also forced to forego many social experiences in his early twenties for the sake of his young business. Gelfand is the epitome of a motivated and collaborative individual, as he faced many hardships in the development of his business but pushed through them with his business partner, Martin Reiman. In the interview, Gelfand noted that he would not be where he is today without a partner to keep him in check. Other entrepreneurs that visited our class exhibited these same characteristics, too. The Times of San Diego’s Chris Jennewein, for example, noted that it is crucial to take risks, and even fail from risks, as nobody would be able to learn from their mistakes otherwise. Jennewein also emphasized the importance of partnering and assured us that there are more advantages to partnering than disadvantages. The entrepreneurial mindset as well as some of the characteristics of entrepreneurs were clearly exemplified by the successful entrepreneurs that I had the opportunity to speak to personally during this course.

According to lecture and class readings, there are five main types of business models for digital entrepreneurs: the unbundled business model, the long tail, multi-sided platforms, free as business model and the open business model. The unbundled business model incorporates third party infrastructure, product innovation and customer relationships. Entrepreneurs that use the unbundled business model bring in others instead of running their businesses by themselves. Businesses that use the long tail produce a large number of products for a low cost. Multi-sided platforms are what most digital news start-ups are considered to be. These businesses entail an intermediary with two or more customer segments and are only of value when other customers are present. The free as business model involves non-paying customers that are subsidized by paying customers. Many digital news startups also fall under this business model category. The open business model brings in external sources and value proposition for customer segments. When forming a business model for their startup, entrepreneurs should consider costumer insights, visual thinking, prototyping, storytelling, realistic scenarios and new ideas that arise along the way. In some cases, business models may need to change or be adjusted every so often as the business’ markets, competitors and customers can change. Entrepreneurs must find a business model that is well-suited for their businesses in order to succeed, or they may face failure.

Creativity and innovation are two qualities that entrepreneurs must embody in order to lead a successful career in entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurial industry is a competitive one and it is difficult to surface ideas that have not been thought of before. Whether they are building something new, building a new service or inventing a new way to do something, entrepreneurs must be creative with their innovations. According to lecture, efficient innovation requires four elements: creativity, risk, hard work and optimism. Entrepreneurs take risks and face many challenges over the course of their careers, so they must remain optimistic and work hard to get over these low points. With the right attitude and work ethic in place, their creativity is crucial in making a new path to lead their careers down. When speaking to our class about his experience as CEO and founder of STN Digital, David Brickley mentioned creativity as one of the most powerful aspects of his career to this day. Specifically, he said that he and his team have a group message on Instagram in which they send inspiration back and forth to keep their creative juices flowing. Entrepreneurs would not be able to function thoroughly and build successful businesses without creative and innovative mindsets.

While creativity is a large element of an entrepreneurial career, entrepreneurs must also consider the ethical aspects of business. It is beneficial for entrepreneurs to adopt an ethical code and distribute it to their employees and contractors. Ethics in business may involve defamation, copyright, intellectual property, creative commons and fair use. To avoid facing trouble in any of these areas, entrepreneurs should avoid ambiguity and producing content when they are emotional, ensure that their content is factual and true, be cautious when writing about private citizens, keep photographs in their original context and ultimately create and produce original work.

Entrepreneurs also must be cautious of the legal aspects behind their businesses. They must be familiar with the different types of business structures such as sole proprietorships, general partnerships, limited liability partnerships, corporations, limited liability corporations and nonprofit corporations, and determine which structure their business should follow. According to lecture, entrepreneurs must then register their business name with the state, obtain a tax identification, register for state and local taxes, obtain a business license or permit, understand employer responsibilities such as W-2, W-4 or I-9 forms, open a bank account, consider insurance and a legal counsel and get an accountant. Insurance is important to purchase in order to protect everyone involved in the business. Types of insurance include professional liability, general liability, commercial property, business interruption, cyber liability, commercial auto liability, product liability, directors and officers, key person, business owners, worker’s compensation and health. The type of insurance that a business requires is dependent upon its structure. If entrepreneurs abide by these guidelines for ethical and legal business elements, they will likely avoid facing problems in either area during their careers.

The entrepreneur interview assignment was my favorite assignment that I completed in JMS515: Media Entrepreneurship. I believe that there is no better way to learn about the entrepreneurial industry than to personally speak with active entrepreneurs and hear about their experiences first-hand. Kevin Gelfand was a wealth of information when it came to sharing the ins and outs of his experience with building his successful business – Shake Smart. He was honest and relatable in his explanation of being a young college student in Greek life who did not necessarily ever plan on building a $3.6 million company and being featured in Forbes’ “2019 30 Under 30: Food and Drink”. Despite his accomplishments, Gelfand was completely transparent and did not try and hide any part of his entrepreneurial experience. He was open about his hardships, including the current one he is facing in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, but he was also eager to tell me about some of his other great ideas like a Shake Smart vending machine. Hearing the triumphs and failures of Gelfand’s experience as an entrepreneur were some of my favorite parts of working on the entrepreneur interview assignment.

While the entrepreneur interview assignment was such a valuable experience for me, there were some challenges that came along with it. In my experience, many of the challenges that I faced had to do with the interview, itself. One minor trouble that I came across was with the recording. I intended to use a website to record the interview, but when we were finished with our conversation, I realized that I had not pressed the record button. For this reason, I was not able to provide a recording of my interview to Professor Schmitz Weiss. One of the bigger challenges that I faced was the actual interview. Conducting interviews with people is not my strong suit, so I struggled a bit with working up the courage to speak with Gelfand. One of the hardest parts about interviewing for me is actually listening to what the interviewee is speaking about while taking notes and thinking of what to say next. I personally get overwhelmed with the process and tend to freeze up during the conversation, and while I was nervous about this happening with Gelfand, the interview actually went better than most that I have done before.

I was initially inspired to take this course because I have always had an interest in digital entrepreneurship. I am currently in the process of developing my own lifestyle and fashion blog which will ultimately serve as a platform for me to express myself, my experiences and my thoughts for the world to see. Once I establish a solid following for my blog and other social media platforms, I would love to one day start my own business in the fashion or beauty industry. This is a dream of mine, but I did not actually know how to approach the entrepreneurial process until I took this course. Now that I have a basis of knowledge about the industry and the entrepreneurial mindset from listening to lectures and speaking with several successful entrepreneurs during the Entrepreneur Interview assignment and guest speaker visits, I feel as though my confidence level has spiked and I have a more realistic perspective on what my journey ahead may entail.