Media Needs a Real Network

Karen Macumber

Tuesday, June 28, 2011 Earlier this month, I became CEO of a social media startup. The first thing I did was look for opportunities to ask for guidance from successful tech entrepreneurs and VCs that could help me grow the company. Just my luck, there were three New England tech/VC conferences available the following week and I attended them all. That there were three events in one week was impressive. But the fact that these conferences drew THE leaders in tech and investing — many of whom attended more than one — to be with their competitors for the greater good of the technology marketplace is simply amazing.

So with my minsider hat on I thought, “Why doesn’t the media industry have the same network for promoting young entrepreneurs, innovation and growth?” I’m not talking about trade associations, mentor programs or even great resources like min. I’m talking an honest-to-goodness organized, C-level network dedicated to driving real innovation in the industry.

If I’m wrong, please email me immediately and let me know where this network exists as I’d love to tap into it. If I am (unfortunately) right, please share the following three reasons why this is so important with your own CEO in the hopes that at the same time next year I can attend three amazing conferences of C-level execs designed to drive true innovation and growth in the media industry.

Reason #1: Disruption Is Good

I’m not talking about disruption from outside. I’m talking about disruption from within designed for the sole purpose of producing serious change. Change can be downright uncomfortable and even decrease profitability short-term. But change is necessary to drive innovation and it is innovation that drives the overall growth of an industry.

Here’s a great example. A concept called “cloud computing” was introduced four years ago at the same tech conference I attended this month. People were slightly skeptical that companies would place their valuable files on servers in “the cloud” although the mood was decidedly upbeat and excited. Fast forward four years later and cloud computing has enabled the tech industry (and many others including media) to rebound and generate a whole new crop of start-ups because the cost of entry is a fraction of what it was when expensive servers were required. My own start-up is a perfect example of this.

Reason #2: Learn From The Young

Hindsight is 20/20. The problem, however, is that today you need better than 20/20 vision to truly innovate and grow an industry. That’s where young entrepreneurs come in. They can provide the “lens” we all need to see things quite differently, freeing us up for innovation and change.

That same conference previously mentioned around “cloud computing” was smart enough to include a panel of 20-something entrepreneurs this year. The audience (comprised of many seasoned veterans) assumed that young entrepreneurs were driven by their desire to star in their own version of The Social Network.

My, how wrong they were. When asked the question about what they were trying to accomplish, each of the panelists said quite the opposite. They were not simply building products—they were building real companies. This meant focusing their efforts on selecting just the right people to join their teams, from management to marketing assistants. People outweighed the cool tech. These young CEOs were awake at night worried about finding the right people because they were the foundation of the company.

How many CEOs in publishing do you know can say that same thing? Imagine if they did?

Reason #3: Provide Unrestricted Access To Leadership

By far, the most important benefit of the conferences I attended was the complete and total access I had to industry leaders. By leaders, I mean those that have backed Twitter, founded LinkedIn or currently write all tech articles for the Boston Globe. By access, I mean far more than simply listening to them speak, or having a two-minute introduction. This access included in-depth, informal but highly productive conversations over several glasses of wine specific to my challenges as CEO. I even had two or three “champions” who took it upon themselves to make sure I was properly introduced to the real “money guys” in the room with no strings attached. Now that’s a mentor.

A Challenge

In conclusion, I challenge leaders in the media industry to think carefully about what the tech marketplace has done to support growth and innovation, as illustrated in this article. Then take a good look at what you have done in your own region – unselfishly and for the sole purpose of helping the industry overall. Even if you are satisfied I say raise the bar and show those tech guys what the media industry is made of!

Karen Macumber is CEO, SproutShout Media Corporation, a content curation platform that enables parents to capture, collaborate, share, and safeguard their digital family content. She was most recently SVP, media services at the AMP Agency.

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