How to Be a Successful Media Entrepreneur
On our show Naked Media, produced jointly with Scribe Media, we often take the opportunity to ask entrepreneurial types what it takes to be a media entrprepreneur. Dave Morgan, founder (and $275 million seller) of Tacoda (to AOL) and newly named chairman of the Tennis Company, took the first shot. Then MIchael Wolff of Newser.com and Vanity Fair stopped by with Steven Kotok of The Week, as did Next New Networks co-founder Fred Seibert. We’ll keep adding to this list as we get more and more.
1. Keep control. But know when to give it up. Make sure the capital structure is such that you can keep control of the business, do the things you need to to make it grow, etc. Don’t go for the biggest valuation, but rather the right valuation. If the money you get is too big, and sets too-high expectations, the pressure to generate enough cashflow and create a large liquidity event (meaning get someone to buy the company at a high value) will be a lot of pressure that’ll hurt your ability to make choices you may need to ensure the health of the biz. Don’t take the biggest amount of money, take the best. Corollary: Don’t be the last investment in a venture fund, because then the cycle will be shorter, and they may need to have you sell in, say four years, rather than 7-10. You don’t need that pressure. In other words, it’s not just which venture (or other) fund puts its money behind you, it’s also which of their funds it is. Wollf added: Yes, control is important. But know when to give it up.