The book is divided into three Parts, each tackling a separate piece of the puzzle. The first section, “Understanding the Basics of Digital Entrepreneurship,” authored by Penelope Muse Abernathy, consists of four chapters, and explores how the Internet has changed the business models for media enterprises. It is both a financial and strategic primer. It traces more than 550 years of innovation, identifies the prevailing business models of the past and present, and introduces the idea that successful entrepreneurs (as opposed to innovators and inventors) focus on getting the business model right. It has lessons on how to understand the difference between net income and cash flow, as well as examples of how to place a dollar value and rate of return on a media enterprise. It concludes by analyzing the various ways the Internet has attacked the traditional business models of media companies, and by identifying the strategic challenges and opportunities confronting all media entrepreneurs today.
Part II, “Creating Sustainable Strategies and Business Models,” co‐authored by JoAnn Sciarrino and Abernathy, develops a new customer‐focused strategy roadmap for creating profitable and sustainable digital media business models. In the pre‐digital age, successful media enterprises tended to control each of the processes involved in creating, packaging, producing, distributing, and selling their content to consumers. This led to inward‐looking business strategies that focused on operational excellence and efficiency. The interconnectivity and immediacy of the Internet not only disrupted the economics of media enterprises, but also relationships with their customers—both their audiences and their advertisers. Strategies for companies in the digital space place the customer as the ultimate driver of profitability. Therefore, this section begins by posing five customer‐focused strategic questions, and then establishing a step‐by‐step process for answering each question. This process provides the tools to define a company’s unique value proposition, reach current and potential customers and strengthen relationships with them, utilize partnerships, and prioritize investments in key assets.
The concluding Part, “Leadership in a Time of Change,” authored by Abernathy, focuses on the leadership challenges and opportunities facing media entrepreneurs today and in the near future. It concludes by asking readers to consider the possibilities that are yet to be realized around artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and blockchain, to name but a few. Each chapter has timely case studies focusing on media enterprises that are attempting to transform their digital media business models.
Our complementary website for this book, www.cislm.org/digitalentrepreneurs, has an extensive amount of supplemental material, such as instructional videos, essays by media leaders about significant issues they are confronting, and updates on topics covered in the book. In addition, at www.cislm.org/digitalstrategy, we have provided materials (PowerPoints, study guides) for instructors using this book in either the academy or the profession.
As you may have concluded by now, this is not a classic economics textbook. Nor does it cover the sociological or policy implications of the disruption occurring in the media space. Those subjects require separate texts, and there are several excellent ones already. Rather, this book is about the business of media, so it relies on the language of business, often referring to readers and viewers as “customers,” or “consumers of products and services.” With apologies to journalists everywhere, we do not intend to diminish in any way the value of your vitally important work, communicating the news and information that feeds democracy at all levels of society. We are simply using business shorthand when we describe your journalism as “content” (undifferentiated from other types of content), or as a “product or service.” However, since one of us is a journalist, we would also make the point that if you care about the future of journalism, you should learn everything you can about the business of media.
We hope that the book will be used in its entirety in both the academy and the profession, since we believe, for example, marketing students and journalism practitioners benefit from learning about the finances of media enterprises, just as those specializing in accounting and finance need to understand how putting the customer first contributes to bottom line performance. However, given the scope of this book, we also realize that there may not be enough time in a semester to cover all of the material we included. Therefore, we have envisioned each section as potentially a stand‐alone entity that can be incorporated into the curriculum of existing marketing, strategy or journalism courses, as well as entrepreneurial centers.
This book reflects the insights gained from our strategy work with numerous media organizations, as well as what we have learned from our own professional experiences, research and teaching. We hope that what we offer in the following pages will be relevant for both the classroom and the profession, for college professors, as well as for those in the industry hoping to get funding for a new venture or transform their current media operations. We hope it both informs and inspires current and aspiring media entrepreneurs.