{"id":215019,"date":"2020-08-03T12:59:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-03T16:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lionpublishers.com\/?p=215019"},"modified":"2021-07-02T13:08:16","modified_gmt":"2021-07-02T17:08:16","slug":"what-makes-a-great-gni-startups-lab-boot-camp-application-lets-dig-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lionpublishers.com\/what-makes-a-great-gni-startups-lab-boot-camp-application-lets-dig-in\/","title":{"rendered":"What makes a great GNI Startups Lab boot camp application? Let\u2019s dig in."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How you can increase your chances of getting accepted, and what we\u2019re looking for in prospective candidates.<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Back in 2018, shortly after the first cohort of journalism entrepreneurship boot camp participants graduated, I reached out to many friends, advisors, and colleagues for input on how to grow the boot camp beyond the pilot phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the colleagues I reached out to was Josh Stearns at the Democracy Fund. He asked a deeply challenging question that I was not expecting, which was \u201cHow much are the people you choose actually the secret sauce [of the boot camp and its outcomes] versus the curriculum itself?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wasn\u2019t expecting it because I\u2019d had the same question of many journalism funders who often give out grants to the same people and projects year after year. I didn\u2019t see how it was going to be possible to reinvent the media ecosystem if funders kept investing in the same \u201cwinners\u201d and never made the necessary (and more challenging) effort to reach out to and engage new entrants. It\u2019s a big part of what led me to launch the boot camp in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But had I fallen into the same trap? Had I just \u201cpicked winners\u201d in the hopes of demonstrating that the boot camp curriculum was effective?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully, the answer was clear: I had received four times the number of applications for the number of spots that were available. And as I spent days reviewing them, looking through a variety of lenses, I honestly struggled to select just four projects. I knew almost nothing about the finalists<\/a> when I invited them to join the boot camp \u2014 the application form was very short, and I relied almost entirely on their project idea, goals for the boot camp, their reporting examples, and a LinkedIn profile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I looked back across those first applications after receiving Josh\u2019s question, I saw that there were definitely \u201cstronger\u201d applicants (in the sense of \u201cpicking winners\u201d) than the ones who joined that first cohort: people who were already well underway with a project; projects with notable people on their team; individuals with more seniority, experience, and a huge network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I was looking for, however, was a cohort of people who would work well together.<\/strong> I chose projects that were at a similar stage of development and scope, and projects that were led by people who had a demonstrated ability to do reporting (because this is not part of the boot camp curriculum). I believe this idea of a \u201ccoherent cohort\u201d is part of this boot camp\u2019s secret sauce. The first cohort bonded early and demonstrated an incredible spirit of openness and cooperation, which I believe has been critical to their overall progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A similar cohort-centric lens will be applied this time, and \u2014 thanks to the tireless efforts of Anika Anand<\/a> \u2014 we\u2019ve added a greatly-refined rubric for assessing each application, as well as the addition of a judging team to provide additional perspectives. In the spirit of transparency, we\u2019re sharing that rubric with you. We\u2019re also happy to answer your questions about it during our upcoming info sessions on Aug. 5<\/a> and Aug. 13<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, if you\u2019ve already submitted an application and would like to update it, submit a new one and reach out to anika@lionpublishers.com<\/a> who will delete your original.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re ready to apply, you can do so here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rubric<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll be evaluating your responses to the following questions in the application based on the following criteria:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does it meet the basic requirements for eligibility <\/strong>as defined in our FAQ<\/strong><\/a>?
<\/strong>Before we apply any of the criteria below, we\u2019ll confirm that the application meets the requirements for this program. Specifically:<\/p>\n\n\n\n