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(Here is another draft chapter from Lean Media 1.0. Please leave comments below) Lean media techniques are flexible enough to be used by everyone from one-man bands and startups to well-funded production teams at big studios. While there are lessons for folks who are working in the trenches, managers and corporate media executives will comeRead more

Let me illustrate the “fat launch” mindset with an example. In the mid-1990s, a Taiwanese broadcaster hired me to help produce a daily English-language television newscast. Why have an English TV show in a market that had more than 20 million Mandarin and Taiwanese speakers, but only a small population of foreigners residing in theRead more

Earlier we looked at a lean media example of a rock supergroup, Led Zeppelin. Today we will examine The Simpsons, the long-running Fox animated series. For a primer on lean media, check out the intro, the lean media framework, and its fat media counterpart. Production team: In the late 1980s, writer/director James L. Brooks wasRead more

I’ve described the lean media framework, and compared it with its fat media predecessor. Now, let’s look at an example: Led Zeppelin I, the first album by the British hard rock quartet. Production team: The band included guitarist Jimmy Page (who was the producer of the album), singer Robert Plant, bassist John Paul Jones, andRead more

The lean media playbook emphasizes the following elements: Small teams. Individual producers or small teams with complementary skills drive the project forward. Keeping the team small lets members move more quickly. Restricted budgets Eliminating waste. Producers work with the tools at hand, and avoid complex or time-wasting processes. Creating a satisfying media experience for early audiencesRead more

If you have ever been involved in the creation and launch of a media product—whether it be a new recording or a website or a book or a newspaper column—you’ve probably dealt with a scenario that looks something like this: This simple outline glosses over a lot of small steps, but the basic structure canRead more

Before we continue, I want to be very clear about something: Lean media does not guarantee success. The music, gaming, and online publishing industries are littered with projects and collaborations and experiments that never amounted to much. They eventually were killed by their creators, or faded away into obscurity because they couldn’t scale or couldn’tRead more

The following is a draft chapter from Lean Media 1.0. I need your input! Please let me know what works and what doesn’t work in the comments section. Also, if you know someone who would like this, please share it with them! I’m a media person. I’ve been involved as a producer and manager in various sectorsRead more

The following is a draft chapter from Lean Media 1.0. I need your input! Please let me know what works and what doesn’t work in the comments section. Also, if you know someone who would like this, please share it with them! What do The Huffington Post, The Simpsons, Minecraft, and Led Zeppelin’s first album have in common?Read more

You’ve come to the official site for my book about lean media. I’ve blogged and tweeted about lean media over the past three years, but now I am using #NaNoWriMo to create a book on the subject tentatively titled Lean Media 1.0. As one of my lean experiments, I will be posting chapters to this blogRead more