Identification of the Challenges of Media Startup Creation in Iran

Media startups play an important role in developing knowledge based economy, and are becoming a source of numerous social changes. These media startups and their specific aspects and characteristics are scrutinized in the realm of media entrepreneurship. This research attempts to investigate the challenges of media startup creation. A qualitative research design –multiple case study- is used. This research is an applied research in terms of goal. Eleven co-founders of five media startups are interviewed using a semi structured interview protocol. The authors used two-step coding in order to analyze the statements an outputs of the interview sessions. Findings revealed that there are six categories of challenges of media startup creation, which are: legal challenges, infrastructural challenges, human capital challenges, funding challenges, media credibility challenges, and content related challenges. Based on our findings, the content related challenges are among the most important challenges faced by media startups in their creation stage.