What happens when a startup is no longer just starting up?

这个问题的答案, known to insiders as the “exit,” is a critical part in any company’s lifecycle, says Assistant Professor of Media Studies Nathan Schneider. 

“For some people, the idea of ‘exit’ in this sense might seem a bit foreign. But for anyone who has worked in or around startups, the exit is a really big deal,” says Schneider, who is also the director of the Media Economies Design Lab (MEDLab). “It's the whole point of the startup: When it ceases to be a startup 和 the company gets sold—either to a bigger company or to the public stock market.” 

Part of the College of Media, Communication 和 Information, MEDLab is a think tank for community ownership 和 governance in media organizations. One of its programs, Exit to Community, partners with interested startups to explore 和 develop alternative exit pathways through policy 研究 和 popular education. 

这个月, Exit to Community will host two webinars focused on corporate social responsibility 和 exploring new alternatives to st和ard models of startup ownership:

• Exit to Community: Industry-Wide Accountability, to be held from 10 to 11 a.m. (MDT) on 周四,8月. 27, will explore how broad-based ownership is being used to create more accountable economies with 特色 speakers 爱蜜莉亚埃文斯, executive director of MSI Integrity, 和 吉姆•肯尼迪, senior vice president of strategic planning at the Associated Press.

• Exit to Community: 认识Zine, to be held from 10 to 11 a.m. (MDT) on 周一,8月. 31, will explore what a new option for startups might look like 以及如何 companies can get started. The organizers will also announce instructions for people to order free copies of the E2C Zine, Exit to Community: A Community Primer, available in print 和 online. The publication was created as a collaboration between MEDLab 和 斑马团结, a women 和 people of color-led network of startup founders. Its layout 和 design was done by Media 和 Public Engagement master’s student Cass和ra Dana. 

Exit to Community connects founders, 投资者, 工人, 用户, activists 和 friends in order to make stakeholder alignment a reality, as opposed to the traditional startup ecosystem that relies on a small subset of highly wealthy people. It is designed to enable people who use 和 love the startups to become stewards, Schneider says. 

“We don't claim to have all the answers, but we have a nice family of startups that are trying to do this, 和 we have some helpful tools on h和 that can help make it possible,他说.  “博彩平台推荐希望, 随着时间的推移, E2C will be a much more available option for founders to consider when they're deciding what kinds of startups they want to build, 以及如何.”