Discussion starter from a Knight MLS 2012 discussion of sustainability issues. See http://www.knightfoundation.org/press-room/other/breakout-session-7-experiments-sustainability-whos/

1. The
landscape
we’re
in
right
now
Newspapers
&
legacy
media
losing
value
Increasing
number
of
local
“news
deserts”
75%
of
online
ads
go
to
Google
&
FB
CommuniLes
lack
local
voices
to
reflect
who
they
are
&
what
goes
on
2007-­‐2010-­‐-­‐$180M/yr
invested
in
journalism
by
foundaFons
$1.6B/yr
editorial
cuts
by
legacy
newspapers.
Source:
"
The
InformaFon
Needs
of
CommuniFes”,
FCC,
June
2011
‘The
problem
facing
American
journalism
is
not
fundamentally
an
audience
problem
or
a
credibility
problem.
It
is
a
revenue
problem.”
-­‐Pew
Project
for
Excellence
in
Journalism
1

2. Local
soluLons
oPen
take
2
forms
Hyper
local
play*
Big
regional
play**
•
Sell
ads
on
a
non-­‐CPM
basis
($40-­‐ • UnderwriLng,
grants,
donors,
$2500/month)
events,
adverLsing
&
more
• Grants,
ads
•
High
tech
with
apps,
ad
targeLng.
• Market
locaLon,
not
audience
•
Strong
third
party
distribuLon,
• Focus
on
short
form
local
content
oPen
to
print
enLty.
• Keep
staff
minimal
&
producLve
• InvesLgaLve
reporLng.
(1-­‐2
arLcles/day)
• Aggregates
niche
publicaLons
• Typical
revenue
of
$50-­‐100,000
K
• Annual
budget
$60-­‐300,000
K
*Ex:
Barista,
Batavian,
West
SeaXle
Blog
**Ex:
Texas
Tribune,
California
Watch,
Minn
Post
2

3. Problems
• The
big
sites
(budgets
of
$2.3-­‐$6MM)
are
oPen
neither
sustainable
OR
typical
• Smaller
sites
are
niche,
harder
to
evaluate
• Do
funders
have
criteria
to
evaluate
local
efforts?
• What
are
realisLc
expectaLons
for
earned
revenue?
BoXom
line:
Thinking
about
sustainability
needs
to
start
day
1
3

4. Sustainability
quesLons
• What
aspects
of
this
project
create
the
most
value?
How
can
we
make
money
from
them?
• Who
can
we
learn
from/copy?
Whose
models
might
work
for
us?
• What’s
the
revenue
porlolio
to
try
out?.
• Can
we
try
some
tacLcs
and
afford
to
fail?
• Do
we
know
how
to
measure
success/failure
in
our
efforts?
4

5. Ben
Wirz’
formula:
What
is
Minimum
Viable
Product
(MVP?
MVP
=
F(Customer,
Problem,
Time
or
$$$)
• Focus
on
CUSTOMER
– QualitaLve
Discovery,
QuanLtaLve
ValidaLon
• Get
to
know
habits,
problems,
desires
(FUN
MATTERS)
– what
causes
pain?
what
causes
pleasure?
• Define
1-­‐5
TESTABLE
Conversion
Metrics
of
Value
– AXenLon/Usage
(session
Lme,
clicks)
– Customer
Data
(email,
connect,
profile)
-­‐ Revenue
(direct
or
indirect)
-­‐ RetenLon
(visits
over
Lme,
cohort
behavior)
-­‐ Referral
(users
evangelize
to
other
users)
• Note:
Paid
SoluLons
drive
FOCUS
(&
pay
rent)
SOURCE:
DAVE
MCCLURE,
500
Startups,
Metrics4Pirates
PresentaLon,
June
2011

6. Where
are
you
in
this
equaLon?
• How
do
you
think
about
sustainability?
• What
do
you
know
to
be
true?
• What
are
you
quesLoning?
• What
are
you
funding—or
not
funding?
6