The document provides advice for things to consider before starting a startup. It discusses checking if entrepreneurship is suitable, having a strong personal brand and idea, understanding the competition, building the right team, maintaining focus and passion, knowing when to pivot the business, and continuing to challenge assumptions. Resources for startups are provided, such as checklists for opportunities and a database of business models. The overall message is to thoroughly evaluate all aspects of the startup before launching.

1. Before You Launch:
Things to Consider Before Beginning a Startup
Presented by Ju-Don Marshall Roberts
March 2014

2. ☞ Director for the Center for
Cooperative Media/NJ
News Commons
☞ 17 years at The Washington
Post
☞ Restart No. 1: News Corp-
owned Beliefnet
☞ Restart No. 2: Beliefnet was
sold; had to start over,
rebuilding and training new
team for the new company
☞ Restart No. 3: Everyday
Health
☞ J-Lab’s New Voices Board
☞ J-Lab’s New Media Women
Entrepreneurs Board
☞ Work with various startups
About Me

3. ☞Is this really for you?
 Are you a solo act or can you lead
others?
 Will you devote the necessary time?
 Do you have the resources or
resourcefulness to make this work?
 Are you overwhelmed or excited by
challenges?
Are You an Entrepreneur?
☞ Resources:
 Dan Isenberg’s entrepreneur checklist http://bit.ly/1cvaFby

4. ☞If they know and trust you –
your personal brand
‒What have you already
done? (reputation)
☞If you can sell the package of
you and your idea effectively
‒Are you believable?
(passion)
‒Are you credible?
(experience)
If “You” Build It, They Might Come

5. ☞But they won’t stay without a fight
 Don’t rest on your laurels.
 As fabulous as you/your
idea/your product are, you
will be in a death match for
audience and revenue.
 You may be a visionary, but
can you execute?
If “You” Build It, They Might Come

6. ☞Market opportunity
 It may be a brilliant project, hobby or
distraction but is it a business?
 Are you solving a problem and for whom?
 Do enough people care about the problem
and would they be interested in your
solution?
 Is it scalable?
 Do you have the skills, time, resources to
make it work?
Good Ideas Are Not Enough
☞ Resources:
 Dan Isenberg’s business opportunity checklist http://bit.ly/1cWunQb

7. ☞Who are your competitors?
 How will you differentiate your
product or service?
 Does your product or service
compete with or complement them?
 Is market strong enough to support
another product in this category?
 Use free tools to analyze your
competitors and sharpen your
positioning.
Know the Competition
☞ Resources:
 Measurement and comparison tools: www.similarsites.com, www.similarweb.com,
www.quantcast.com, www.alexa.com

8. ☞Summarize your idea
 Is it clear? Does it convey value, differentiation,
excitement?
 Create an informal advisory group and pitch them. Do
they understand it? Would they use or fund it?
 Survey random people to test the idea/market.
 Use others’ questions/comments to refine your idea.
Define and Refine Your Idea

9. ☞How will you support
the site and yourself?
 Advertising may not be
enough to sustain your
business; do you have
alternative revenue
streams in mind?
 Other options: Grants,
sponsorships, services,
crowd-funding, events,
products, etc.
 Subsidize income:
Freelance, PT work
Is It Worth Your Time?
☞ Resources:
 Sustainable business models for journalism http://www.submojour.net/
 Sample business models from CUNY’s Tow-Knight Center http://bit.ly/H2adaj

10. ☞You’ll need a team that you trust and that
trusts you
 Hire (or team up with) people with passion.
 Find people with complementary strengths,
expertise.
 Strive not to be the smartest person in the room.
 Build a culture, not just a business.
Can You Build the Right Team?

11. ☞Your passion is your driving force
 Allows you to effectively motivate your team and
yourself.
 Provides inspirational leadership.
☞Unchecked emotions are dangerous
 Leads you to blind adherence or belief in your own
ideas in spite of indicators or team feedback.
 Results in erratic decision-making.
Can You Lose the Emotion,
but Keep the Passion?
☞ Resources:
 Article: Lead and motivate – not just your team, but yourself, too http://bit.ly/1hZ1oZP

12. ☞Good ideas need time to grow
 Do your due diligence to make
sure your ideas are sound and
then give them time to work.
☞Avoid chasing every shiny new
penny
 Distractions (nonstrategic
pursuits) will likely be corrosive
and impact the execution of your
actual priorities.
Stay Committed and Focused

13. ☞Recognize when a
strategy is flawed
 Wrong assumptions.
 Marketplace changes.
 Audience shifts.
☞Seize the opportunities
you cannot afford to
miss
Know When to Pivot

14. ☞Build a solid foundation
 Make sure what you create or
sell is replicable and scalable.
 Invest in the infrastructure,
teams, technology to
adequately support your
initiatives.
Bigger Is Not Always Better

15. ☞ Define your brand or others will define it for
you
 Your Advertisers.
 Your Competition.
☞ Remember your differentiator
Be True to Yourself

16. ☞Never stop challenging your
assumptions
 Why won’t your product work
“tomorrow”?
☞Figure out the game-changer in your
niche and become it
 Lessons from legacy media
 Gamification
Don’t Fear the Disruption;
Be the Disruption

17. ☞ Center for Cooperative Media and NJ News Commons
Grow & Strengthen Incubator
☞ Entrepreneur’s 2 Weeks to Startup
☞ CUNY Online Entrepreneurial Journalism Bootcamp
☞ JStart: Resources for Startups
☞ ReadWriteWeb’s Legal Resources for Startups
☞ Quantcast: Traffic and Demographics
☞ Alexa: Traffic
☞ New Business Models from the Tow-Knight Center
☞ Entrepreneur and Business Opportunity Checklist
☞ SuBMoJour: Database of Startups and Business Models
☞ Similar Web and Similar Sites: Measurement and
Comparisons
Resources for Startups
All links available here: http://bit.ly/19SYB5o

18. Thank You!
https://twitter.com/NJNewsCommons
https://twitter.com/jmarroberts
https://www.facebook.com/njnewscommons
robertsj@montclair.edu