From Idea to Empire: New Business Development

Through a unique combination of lecture, case studies, guest speakers and hands-on experience working with a start-up media company, this course examines the enormous structural change in publishing and provides a strategic road map for how entrepreneurs turn concepts into a fully funded business. The course also examines how mature companies change and pivot. While the course is not a pre-requisite for the Capstone, it is designed for students to use the concepts taught here to develop their ideas for that course. Throughout the course, students discuss competitive analyses for new ventures, startup costs and effective business models. They learn to sell their idea to investors and potential customers. They also learn how to identify business opportunities and explore sources of venture capital, partnerships and business arrangements for books, magazines, websites and other digital platforms. This course will explore how large and growing media companies create new ventures and expand into new business segments, as well as how individual entrepreneurs launch media businesses. To better understand the process, students will be asked to work with a selected media company or companies analyzing real issues and challenges and suggesting solutions as a practical learning exercise.