“Strategic Thinking is a Survival Imperative”: Patricia Torres-Burd on Building Resilient Media Startups

If your media startup doesn’t have a brand, an audience strategy, and a plan for revenue, it doesn’t have a future. That was the hard truth delivered by Patricia Torres-Burd, Managing Director of the MDIF’s Media Advisory Services, in a keynote left women media entrepreneurs with a practical roadmap for turning creativity into resilience.

“Strategic thinking is no longer a luxury—it’s a survival imperative,” she declared, urging participants to stop confusing good content with a business model. “Your journalism may be excellent. Your storytelling may be powerful. But none of that matters if you can’t answer three questions: Who is your audience? What value do you offer? And how are you going to keep the lights on?”

In presenting her keynote address at fraymedia Foundation’s EntreprenHER: Owning the Future of Media online seminar, held on Thursday, 14 August 2025, Torres-Burd drew on her experience supporting more than 85 media outlets globally to deliver a masterclass in sustainability—rooted in brand clarity, audience intelligence, and purposeful innovation.

Don’t Build a Media Outlet. Build a Brand

Torres-Burd opened with a challenge: stop defining your media company by your content or your logo. “A brand is not a colour palette. It’s not a website. A brand is the promise you make to your audience and whether they trust you to keep it.”

She referenced Black Ballad, a UK-based digital media and lifestyle platform founded by and for Black British women. What began as a blog has grown into a subscription-based membership model with partnerships from leading brands. But its power, Torres-Burd noted, comes from its clarity.

“Black Ballad is unapologetic about who it serves,” she said. “Their Slack group is for Black women only. That’s not exclusion. That’s intention.”

This clarity of purpose, she argued, is what allows small platforms to punch above their weight. “If you don’t define your brand, someone else will and chances are, they’ll get it wrong.”

Audience Ownership Is the New Currency

A central message of the keynote was that media founders need to treat audiences not as passive consumers, but as customers who expect value. “You wouldn’t design a frying pan without knowing who will use it. Why would you produce content without knowing your audience’s habits, hopes, and hangups?”

Torres-Burd challenged participants to create what she called an “Audience Intelligence Stack”—a detailed, dynamic understanding of who their readers, listeners, or viewers are and what drives their choices.

“Do you know where your audience shops? When they scroll? Who influences them? What else they consume alongside your content?”

She recommended using free and low-cost tools—Google Trends, social media analytics, simple surveys—and stressed the importance of feedback loops. “If you’re not talking to your audience regularly, they’ll start talking to someone else.”

She also noted that AI tools like ChatGPT can provide a starting point for identifying audience personas and refining value propositions. “If I can learn how to use this tech, so can you. I’m a former war correspondent—I never thought I’d be talking about business plans and algorithms. But here I am.”

Revenue Without Compromise

While Torres-Burd acknowledged the financial pressures facing independent media, she pushed back against the idea that earning money requires selling out.

“There’s nothing noble about being broke,” she said bluntly. “Your mission deserves to be resourced. You just need to be clear about what you’re selling.”

She shared revenue model examples from MDIF clients and admired platforms—from events and merchandise to training and branded content. What matters, she emphasised, is alignment.

“Don’t take money from a beauty brand if you’re a feminist investigative platform. Don’t host a gambling sponsor if you focus on youth mental health. People notice,” she warned.

She highlighted Croatian investigative site Telegram, which built a loyal base of 10,000 paying subscribers in a small market by being fiercely consistent. “They launched a podcast. It went to number one. Why? Because they had trust and they had voice.”

Innovation Doesn’t Have to Be Expensive

Addressing the fear that innovation requires big budgets, Torres-Burd screened a short marketing campaign by investment firm Invesco—an unlikely example of creative storytelling that combined food, financial literacy, and brand education. The campaign was glossy and global—but the message was simple.

“Creativity costs less than you think,” she said. “Partnerships with chefs, artists, youth groups, teachers—these are all storytelling assets. Don’t wait for perfect conditions.”

She urged participants to look for intersectional opportunities—like tying content to school holidays, health awareness months, or trending cultural moments. “Relevance is a multiplier. Be early. Be visible. Be valuable.”

You Need a Plan—Before You Need Funding

Perhaps the most urgent takeaway was Torres-Burd’s warning that too many media startups only begin strategic thinking when they are already in crisis.

“People come to MDIF asking for investment after they’ve lost their team, their audience, and their confidence. By then, it’s too late,” she said. “Planning is prevention.”

She advised founders to have a clear pitch deck that includes:

• A crisp description of audience and market fit.

• A three-year financial projection (even if speculative).

• A list of three competitors—and how you differ.

• Examples of audience engagement and traction.
  

“I’m not impressed by big dreams,” she said. “I’m impressed by people who know what lane they’re in—and how they’ll grow inside it.”

She encouraged media entrepreneurs to develop a “growth script” for every quarter. “What will you try? What will you measure? What will you drop if it doesn’t work?”

Community, Not Competition

While Torres-Burd stressed the need for differentiation, she also made space for solidarity. “Collaboration is not weakness. Black Ballad hosts events with publishers. Telegram partners with universities. You can protect your mission and still grow together.”

For Torres-Burd, the timing was urgent.

“We are entering a phase of contraction. The media bubble is shrinking. If you are not essential to your audience, you will disappear.”

But she also closed with optimism—and conviction.

“You, the women in this room, represent the most tested generation of media founders in history. You’ve built under pressure. You’ve adapted in crisis. And now you’re ready to lead.”

See full presentation given by Patricia Torres-Burd here.