GNI Startups Boot Camp | Launch a new journalism venture

Launching independent digital news startups

UPDATE: Applications are now closed for our U.S. Boot Camp, but if you're based in Canada, you can apply for our first GNI Startups Boot Camp Canada through November 14. 

What is the GNI Startups Boot Camp?

Until now, very few affordable startup programs focused exclusively on the practical steps of launching a new journalism venture.

That's why the Google News Initiative partnered with LION Publishers to launch the GNI Startups Boot Camp, helping aspiring news entrepreneurs in the U.S. and Canada prove there is a need and audience for their idea, build their news product and set their business on the path to sustainability.

Our 2020 Boot Camp helped 24 publishers refine and launch their news startups. Now we're looking for our next cohort of aspiring entrepreneurs in the U.S. to join our 2021 Startups Boot Camp.

Applications are open from June 21, 2021 to August 8, 2021. We will also be launching a Boot Camp later this year solely dedicated to news entrepreneurs in Canada. (More details coming soon!)

No fees, no tuition, no income sharing. No financial barriers to your success. Just the hands-on support you need to become independent, and stay independent. 

If you’re ready to start a new project, we’re here to help. This concept of leveraging collective expertise and technology to enhance user experience is not unique to news entrepreneurship. For instance, the betking app utilizes advanced technology to provide a seamless and efficient betting experience, drawing on the collective insights of industry experts to meet the needs of its users. Both the Bootcamp and the Betking app exemplify how integrating expert knowledge and innovative technology can create environments that not only meet but exceed user expectations.

If you are an already-launched digital news publisher, keep an eye out for future applications to the GNI Startups Lab program.

News & Program Updates

 

Previous Program Updates

Google News Initiative on Twitter  |   LION Publishers on Twitter

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GNI Startups Boot Camp

Applications are currently being accepted for our second news startup boot camp. This is an eight-week fully-remote program starting in September 2021. We’ll be accepting up to 24 solo founders or teams of aspiring entrepreneurs who have identified a community’s need for better news and want guidance and coaching on how to launch, or continue to develop, a news offering that delivers a solution rooted in journalism.

Made for journalism

A laser-focused, and immensely practical curriculum that is focused on doing over listening

Live seminars

Weekly live video seminars with a small cohort of like-minded journalism entrepreneurs

Personalized coaching

Weekly one-on-one coaching to help you move your idea forward toward launch, or growth

Annual LION Membership

A year-long “aspiring entrepreneurs” membership to LION Publishers

2021 application process & timeline

Applications close on August 8, 2021.


Aug 8, 2021
Application deadline. Applications close at 11 p.m. Pacific time.

Aug 9 – Aug 23, 2021
Application review period.

Aug 27, 2021
All applicants notified of status of application.

Week of Sept 13, 2021
Boot camp begins.

Week of Nov 12, 2021
Boot camp finishes.

2021 Boot Camp Information Sessions

LION's Director of Teaching and Learning, Lisa Heyamoto, and Boot Camp Director, Phillip Smith, recently hosted an information session about the Boot Camp. Watch the video recording below:

Director of Teaching and Learning, Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers 

Lisa Heyamoto oversees our GNI Startups Program, which includes helping aspiring news entrepreneurs launch businesses in the Startups Boot Camp and existing news entrepreneurs work toward sustainability in the Startups Lab. She was previously a reporter at The Seattle Times and The Sacramento Bee, and has been a longtime journalism educator at the University of Oregon. She also co-founded The 32 Percent Project, which explores what drives and disrupts trust in the news media. Lisa is based in Eugene, Oregon.

Director, GNI Startups Boot Camp 

Phillip is a veteran consultant and coach. His passion is helping newsrooms to make more money, helping news startups grow their audience, and helping journalists succeed as entrepreneurs. The journalism entrepreneurship boot camp was developed during his time as a John S. Knight fellow at Stanford University.

What prior boot camp participants have said


“The GNI/LION Publishers bootcamp gave me the direction I needed to find a path to sustainability. Every week we were presented with practical steps, guides, and examples of how we could get our company running. Eight weeks later, I feel so much more confident in my abilities. Truly priceless.”

 Camille Padilla Dalmau


“The LION/GNI bootcamp has been pivotal to the development of my media startup and my growth as a founder. The instruction is enlightening; the coaching is propelling; the access to resources, generous; and the community is both inspiring and supportive. My company is better because of this boot camp—and so am I.”

Travers Johnson

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does the boot camp cost to attend?

Like the last boot camp, If you apply and get accepted into the boot camp — you give it 110% — it will cost you nothing but your time.

That’s right: all of the boot camp costs are covered. This includes the weekly seminars and one-on-one coaching, several tools to help you refine and test your idea, access to our community of practice. 

No fees, no tuition, no income sharing arrangement. No financial barriers to your success. Just the support you need to become independent, and stay independent. 

Plus, upon successfully completing the bootcamp, you will receive a year-long “aspiring entrepreneurs” membership to LION Publishers.

What are the dates of the boot camp?

Classes will begin the week of September 13 and end the week of November 12, 2021.

What kinds of business ideas are eligible?
  • Efforts focused on delivering local news and civic information
  • Reporting-based businesses focused on encouraging civic engagement
  • Already-launched businesses focused on single-subject reporting that is not geographically bound

We are platform agnostic. That means you could plan to deliver your product through a podcast, newsletter, event series, app, messaging, videos, a website or anything else. 

Also, we will not be accepting participants from businesses that want to serve journalists/journalism as their primary customers or legacy publications that are trying to make a transition to digital. We are also not looking for applications that are primarily aggregation of existing content.

Who’s the program for?

You should consider this boot camp if: 

  • You have identified a community’s need for better news, information and/or engagement and think you can deliver a solution
  • You’re less than a year into running your news business and want to re-evaluate some of your core hypotheses and make adjustments to improve your financial sustainability
  • You’re committed to public-service reporting with communities, not on communities
  • You’re committed to making your business idea financially sustainable as quickly as possible
  • You’re able to commit at least eight hours a week for eight weeks to turn your business idea into reality (ideally, you can commit more time)

We are especially interested in entrepreneurs who want to serve communities that don’t often see themselves or their stories reflected in their local news.

Who is eligible to apply?
  • You should be based in, and plan to launch in, the U.S. or Puerto Rico. If you decide to apply to a future part of this program, you will need to be authorized to work in your country of residence.
  • You should be comfortable with written and spoken English, as all sessions and assignments will be in English only for this session (I hope we can deliver the boot camp in other languages in the near future.)
  • You can join as an individual or as a team. If you already have a team, up to two of you can participate in the boot camp sessions and coaching. (Sidenote: If you do have a team, a good goal is to have one person for each of these core expertise areas: editorial, business and/or marketing, product and/or technology.)
  • You have some journalism experience or a business background and passion for the community you want to serve
How many people are you selecting to participate?

We’ll be selecting up to 24 founders and/or teams.

Where will the boot camp be held?

The boot camp is entirely online. It’s intentionally designed to be an online experience because we want you to stay in your community and to do the work in that context.

What is the format of the boot camp?

There will be a 90-minute live webinar each week. At the end of the webinar, we’ll have a conversation as a group about the tasks you’ll undertake that week. Once participants are selected, we can choose the day/time that works best for everyone. The sessions will also be recorded for later viewing. At least once a week, teams will have a one-on-one coaching session with me. Teams can select this time each week based on their schedules.

Some weeks there will be extra “peer review” sessions, where teams present on their progress and we unpack the learnings.

In between our live video sessions, we’ll communicate using a chat platform that’s comfortable for everyone, e.g., Slack, private Facebook or LinkedIn group, etc.

How many hours per week will I need to invest?

We like to answer that by saying “at least part-time hours; ideally a full-time commitment.” We expect participants to plan for at least eight hours a week, preferably a lot more.

If you’ve already launched a project that’s less than 12 months in and aren’t sure what to do next, the boot camp should complement what you’re already doing.

If you’re in an existing full-time position and thinking about the boot camp to grow your side hustle into your main hustle, that’s great! You’ll want to think about how to fit the minimum number of hours into your schedule. (And, if the weekly webinar happens during your paying job working hours, you’ll need to make time to watch the recorded version.)

Ideally, you and your partner will be on the calls together. At least one of you is responsible for attending, or watching the re-cap. You can also switch off weeks if that’s easier.

Typically each week will consist of 90 minutes of seminar time, two or more hours of assignments, and two or more hours of readings. The more time you put into the assignments, the more you will typically get out of the boot camp experience.

How far along should my project be before applying to the boot camp?

We're excited for you to apply at any stage where you believe the boot camp would help you achieve your objectives. That said, we describe the boot camp as a pre- pre- accelerator program. Practically, that means this is for very early-stage entrepreneurs (or those with entrepreneurial aspirations) and early stage ideas. 

You could simply have a strong sense of a problem you’d like to solve in your community, or you could have already taken steps to realize that idea. Both are a great fit.

If you simply have passion for starting your own journalism or information business and are still searching for the right idea, that’s also a great fit. You’ll want to take advantage of the pre-boot camp reading and exercises to help you define an idea to bring into the rest of the boot camp.

Does the boot camp include information on financing my project?

Yes and no. Pulling from interviews done with successful journalism entrepreneurs, we will discuss the common ways that new businesses are financed in the early stages. And we’ll point you to resources that can help you explore all of the options in more detail on your own time. 

However, there will be no formal curriculum specifically on how to obtain grants, small business loans, or investment. We made this decision because it is far more likely that a new business will fail due to lack of customers rather than a lack of financing. So, for the boot camp, we will focus on finding customers first.

Does the boot camp include information on how to write a business plan?

Yes and no. Your weekly assignments will result in documents that answer questions similar to what is often found in a business plan. But these will be in a format that we believe is far more useful in the early stages of a business. For example, simplified revenue projections, a growth roadmap, and various forms of “pitch” documents that help you clearly and concisely explain the idea to others.

Does the boot camp include information to help me decide on the right structure for my project (e.g. non-profit, for-profit, LLC, C-Corp, S-Corp)?

Yes and no. We will discuss the options in the context of a decision that you’ll eventually need to make. And I’ll point you toward ample resources for when the time comes to make that decision.

However, in the earliest stages of a new venture, your focus should be on building relationships with your community -- readers, listeners, watchers, advertisers, sponsors, etc. -- and moving those relationships toward something that supports you financially. 

The question of business structure can easily become a rabbit hole that can consume a lot of mental energy and limit your options far too early in the development of your project or business. If you’ve already made the decision, great! If not, that’s obviously fine too.

What are the outcomes of this program? In other words, what should I walk away with?
  • The ability to describe your business idea concisely and compellingly
  • A realistic revenue forecast for the next six, 12, 24, and 36 months
  • A set of three-month objectives and a plan for how to achieve them
  • A deeper understanding of your community’s needs, and how your project will meet those needs
  • Confidence from having run small experiments to prove your idea and that have provided you with valuable, objective data on your business's viability
  • Knowledge of which technology and tools are the best fit for your undertaking
  • A “continuous innovation” mindset that will help to keep your project relevant for years to come
  • And, most optimistically, some customers!
How do I participate in the program?

Applications are now open, and you can apply here by August 1, 2021. When applying, you will be asked to provide basic information about your personal and professional backstory, as well as the business idea that you hope to develop further in the boot camp. Here’s a copy of the application to download before you begin.

What must I do to complete the program?
  • Attend or watch the weekly lesson each week (if you have a team member, you may switch off and all sessions are recorded)
  • Complete at least four out of eight one-on-one coaching sessions
  • Submit a weekly status updates and short survey
  • Demonstrate effort at completing the weekly assignments
  • Submit a final video pitch for your project
Will you publicly announce my participation in this program? Do I need to let my current employer know I will be participating?

We understand that some participants must continue to work a full-time job while participating in this boot camp, and that some participants will be working at existing news organizations. We will give participants the option of being included in the announcement about who is accepted into the program –– it will not be required to be identified as a boot camp participant

Additionally, we will follow “Vegas Rules” during the boot camp –– meaning whatever is discussed in the boot camp, stays in the boot camp. Participants who do not abide by these rules will be dismissed from the program.

Does applying for the GNI Startup Boot Camp preclude me from applying for other GNI-related programs or funding?

No, it doesn’t. You should apply to whatever opportunities are best suited for you at this moment –– applying to multiple ones will not help or hurt your chances of being selected. 

Do I need to have any prior experience in launching a business or entrepreneurship?

Absolutely not. The most important thing we are looking for is that you’ve identified a customer/audience need and you have a very strong hypothesis on how to meet that need.

What if I’m not ready to apply for this now? Will there be future opportunities to work with GNI Startups Lab?

We hope so! Make sure to sign up for the LION News Entrepreneur Community on Slack so that you can stay updated on future opportunities to work with us.

If I already submitted my application, but then updated my idea, how do I submit an updated application? 

Feel free to email lisa@lionpublishers.com and she will delete the application you don’t want us to consider.

Are you looking for volunteer coaches and mentors for the boot camp?

Yes. Absolutely. If you have expertise in a specific area like sales, marketing, finance or accounting, law relating to new business, or presentation coaching, please reach out to lisa@lionpublishers.com. 

I have more questions! Who can I talk to?

We’ll be hosting two information sessions between now and the application deadline:

  • June 30 at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT (RSVP)
  • July 13 at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT (RSVP)

If you’re unable to make one of those, please reach out directly to LION Teaching and Learning Director Lisa Heyamoto at lisa@lionpublishers.com with any questions you have.

How will I know if my idea, startup, non-profit, or company is a good fit for this?

If you would fall into LION Publishers’ aspiring entrepreneur membership criteria, or full member criteria and you’re still in the early days, then it is probably a great fit. 


Have a look at the questions What kinds of business ideas are eligible? and Who’s the program for? for more detail.

GNI Startups Boot Camp is a collaboration

The Google News Initiative is Google’s effort to work with the news industry to help journalism thrive in the digital age. Our efforts focus on three pillars: working with the news industry to evolve their business models and drive sustainable growth, elevating quality journalism and empowering news organizations with new technology. 

LION Publishers is a journalism association supporting independent online news publishers. Our mission is to help existing and aspiring local news entrepreneurs build and grow financially sustainable small businesses. LION members are creating the future of local news with independently owned and operated businesses that directly serve their communities. Learn more about becoming a member.

We’re also grateful for the support of our past and current collaborators on outreach to, and evaluation of, potential boot camp participants:
Free Press, Venture for America, and News Product Alliance, as well as Color Farm Media, Press On, and Maynard Institute .

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