The ultra mega super productive MediaWorks sprint week has come to a successful close, thanks to a lot of hard work and gallons of coffee. The four teams have spent the last three days brainstorming, workshopping, and strategically planning their new business models.
On Tuesday they began an intensive course led by entrepreneurial expert Shawn Carson. Around 98% of all startup businesses fail, and since that is obviously not the goal of this program, each team worked to construct a business model that is both fundable and marketable. Shawn Carson described a business model as “the framework for creating value.” The goal is to create, deliver, and capture value.
A crucial part of developing a business is figuring out how to get, keep, and grow customers. The teams set out to identify their target audience in a market that they could segment, analyze, and quantify.
The next step for the creators was to construct their value propositions. This helped lay out in writing the specific problem each business aims to address, their solution, and what makes them unique.
After two half days of rigorous business model development, the teams were given a tour of the Scripps Network headquarters in Knoxville. They were taken around the impressive facilities and introduced to the editors, musicians, animators, and organizers behind channels like HGTV and Food Network.
At the end of the day, the teams and their mentors had a final gathering to sample some of Knoxville’s cuisine before parting ways until the next sprint week in July.
From this point forward, the creators will work toward the goals they set out during the week. They will participate in weekly conference calls to check in with their teams at KEC as they develop content, build their brands, and be generally awesome.
