TITLE OF THESIS INVENTING THE FUTURE An investigation of Time Warner's accelerator program: could Australia's media and entertainment industry benefit from this model? By Chantal Abouchar A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE Masters in Screen Arts and Business Australian Film, Television and Radio School October 2014 All rights reserved. This document may not be reproduced in whole or in part by photocopy or any other means, without the permission of the author. TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS .........................................................................................................ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................. vi LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................. vii INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... xii LITERATURE REVIEW...................................................................................................... xvii Chapter One ......................................................................................................................1 History, Australia...............................................................................................................1 Different types of accelerators, some examples......................................................................... 1 Accelerator Brand ......................................................................................................................... 2 Basic structure of an Accelerator.................................................................................................. 3 Evolution ....................................................................................................................................... 3 What do we mean by startups and the startup ecosystem? ........................................................ 4 The ecosystem, accelerators, incubators and co-working spaces ................................................ 5 Australia and the startup sector................................................................................................. 5 Do accelerators work? Market size............................................................................................... 8 Benefits, drawbacks of accelerators ............................................................................................. 8 Incubators, Australia..................................................................................................................... 9 Australia’s maturing startup ecosystem ..................................................................................... 10 Chapter 2.........................................................................................................................14 Media Camp, Case Study .................................................................................................14 Context.................................................................................................................................... 14 What does a content company of the future look like? ............................................................. 15 The Media Camp accelerator...................................................................................................... 16 How Media Camp functions from a Time Warner perspective................................................... 17 The involvement of Time Warner executives as mentors and advisors ..................................... 19 Financial terms............................................................................................................................ 19 Startups applying for Media Camp ............................................................................................. 20 Inventing the Future by Chantal Abouchar ii How Time Warner executives and accelerator alumni described Media Camp: ........................ 20 Benefit of Media Camp to Time Warner..................................................................................... 21 What sort of questions might Media Camp help solve?............................................................. 21 The importance of data............................................................................................................... 23 Content Discovery....................................................................................................................... 24 Warner Bros and future Research and Development................................................................. 25 How important are video games?............................................................................................... 25 Chapter 3.........................................................................................................................27 The Startups and Media Camp.........................................................................................27 How Media Camp functions from the startup perspective ....................................................... 27 Startup profiles (see Table’s 2 and 3).......................................................................................... 28 Benefit of the accelerator to the startups .................................................................................. 29 The importance of aggregate consumer data for startups ......................................................... 30 Maximising the Media Camp experience, mentors and advisors ............................................... 31 When no commercial deals were done ...................................................................................... 32 Could the startups have achieved the success they have now Media camp? ............................ 33 The downside of Media Camp .................................................................................................... 33 Demo Day.................................................................................................................................... 33 Startups which been through another accelerator prior to Media Camp .................................. 34 What motivates startups?........................................................................................................... 34 Challenges that startups face...................................................................................................... 35 Buying businesses to hire staff.................................................................................................... 35 Roadblocks for startups and becoming a Time Warner approved vendor ................................. 36 Life after Media Camp................................................................................................................. 36 Quantative data available on funding......................................................................................... 37 Funding, post Media Camp ......................................................................................................... 37 Chapter 4.........................................................................................................................41 Findings and Conclusions.................................................................................................41 Characteristics of a corporate accelerator................................................................................ 41 Motivations and benefits of an accelerator to Time Warner ..................................................... 41 Motivations and benefits of an M&E accelerator to startups .................................................... 42 How technology is being used to create new opportunities in the M&E industry ..................... 43 Conclusions.............................................................................................................................. 43 Inventing the Future by Chantal Abouchar iii Data and transparency................................................................................................................ 45 Technology has inextricably changed the way we live and work. .............................................. 45 Opportunities and challenges for an M&E accelerator in Australia............................................ 46 TABLES ............................................................................................................................49 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................58 APPENDIX 1 .....................................................................................................................65 APPENDIX 2 .....................................................................................................................69 Inventing the Future by Chantal Abouchar iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank everyone who took part in the qualitative research. The majority of respondents did not know me and generously gave their time, openly discussed ideas and expressed opinions. I am extremely grateful to these individuals, for without them this research would not have been possible. Thanks also go to the various individuals who make