Print media has been an interesting study in Boomer leadership not understanding what happened to them until it was too late. 

Selling newspaper subscriptions was a pretty good job until about 2007 when the iPhone came out.  Salesmen could make as much as $1,500-$2,000 a week working six hour days selling subscriptions from kiosks in Walmarts or local grocery stores.  They were easy sales since newspapers were still the primary way people received coupons.  The papers were willing to lose money on the subscriptions in order to increase circulation. 

After the iPhone came out it began to get a little harder to make the sale.  When the latest news from all over the world could be delivered to the palm of your hand, with video, why would anyone get a newspaper?  When stores started sending coupons to their email lists it became very near to impossible to sell subscriptions to anyone without gray hair. 

The newspapers mistook the moment.  Rather than make their content available online for a fee, they gave their headline material away for FREE.  The result was predictable.  They paid writers for content. People read the content, but there was no profit other than their online advertising (which the papers didn't understand at the time).  No subscription money was brought in at all.  When they finally decided to try to sell online subscriptions news sources were developing locally through social media.  Newspapers went out of business in droves.  Many talented journalists were left job hunting. 

The rare book trade up until the mid 1990's was driven by The Greatest Generation and generations previous.  That industry was comprised mostly of brick and mortar shops and secondarily by gentleman booksellers who issued either lists or nicely printed catalogues out of their homes.  Book fairs also developed where both kinds of dealers could exhibit and sell their books.  When the internet became more popular in the mid-1990's the average book dealer had no idea that it would effect not only how books would be sold, but how much they could charge for the books on their shelves.  When I walked into a shop in Rochester, NY and found a stack of original photos from the first survey of what would become the Yellowstone National Park, the dealer was shocked when I told him I knew of a customer in Montana who would pay double his asking price.  Before, you sold either to people in your own community or those you personally met through a book fair or mailing list.  Suddenly, the world was your marketplace. 

Generally speaking, the trade did a better job adapting than the newspapers did.  Online selling services like Interloc (now Alibris) popped up like mushrooms and for $20 a month you could list your inventory for the world to see.  Those who jumped on the opportunity made a lot of money.  Those who remained curmudgeons ended up going out of business or dying.  Some, like me, tried to walk a line between honoring the traditional methods while playing around with internet newsgroups, groupserv email lists, and other online forums. We survived, but never really prospered. 

In 2014 Marcus Pittman (LOOR's Chief Content Officer) and I attended the National Religious Broadcaster's Convention in Nashville, TN.  We were there to promote our documentary Babies Are Murdered Here.  We were invited to sit in on a meeting of TV station owners.  This was right around the time that streaming was getting started.  In the meeting, Marcus asked the room, "How are you planning on transitioning your programming for an online audience?".  His question was met with disbelief and mockery.  Who is this young upstart to suggest that our model that has worked for years is going to be obsolete?  Even some of the younger partners denied it would be an issue.  When the meeting was over, I told Marcus that it reminded me of the book sellers when the internet got started.  

This is a long way of making a simple point.  Anyone can miss their moment.  While tech is far better understood now by almost every generation, don't get so comfortable with things as they are that you sit tight when an opportunity arises that not only has the potential to earn a return on investment in the future, but advance the Kingdom.  Don't let the existence of Netflix and Disney + or even Pureflix blind you from another opportunity which will do something radically different from anything that is out there.  

Angel round investing is not for everyone.  The risk is real.  However, I would not want to have to explain to my kids why I sat tight when I knew about an opportunity to change everything.  Moving too slowly on opportunities not only costs you money, it could cost you your reward in the Kingdom.  This is your moment.  Don't miss it.  

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