Entrepreneurs must be ruthless, obsessive and willing to cut corners.Something that Justin Byam Shaw, Chairman of ESI Media, would know.He co-owns (alongside Evgeny Lebedev) the Evening Standard & the Independent, and also co-founded the Felix Project - one of the biggest food redistribution charities in the UK!If you've ever been in London, you'll notice the Evening Standard lying around Tube stations. It's a 100% free quality newspaper and I'd always wondered - what does it take to run it? How do you manage to keep a newspaper free on such a scale?Well today, Justin shares it all.He takes us through his decision to:? Study classics at Oxford University - even when everyone told him it was good for nothing!? Pivot from advertising - when he realised he was terrible at it? Drop out of British Telecom within 1 week of finding a market gap to launch his own startup - at a time when it wasn't the "cool thing" to be a founder? Buy both the Evening Standard & the Independent (alongside the Lebedevs)And also his thoughts on:? How George Osborne faired as Editor of the Evening Standard? How to turn around failing media companies? Launching the The i newspaper (within 7 months of acquiring the Independent!)? The rise of superstar journalists turned media personalities? The media publication he'd be most interested in taking over & what he'd do differently!Highlights:4.44 Studying "good for nothing" Classics at Oxford?!7:18 Being bad at advertising9:27 Moving to British Telecom when it'd just privatised11:34 The talent show that kickstarted Justin's entrepreneurial journey12:38 Remortgaging his apartment?!15:32 Expanding to 12+ countries19:39 The tipping point20:54 Life after acquisition22:34 Arrogance26:59 Being ruthless29:00 Buying the Evening Standard33:41 Launching The i in 7 months?!36:38 Not going digital with the Evening Standard38:58 Internal resistance40:27 Appointing George Osborne as editor45:14 What do media owners expect from their editors?49:23 Journalists become media superstar personalities51:59 Buzzfeed53:05 If Justin could buy any newspaper publication, it'd be...55:14 The Felix Project?Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/119? Weekly STIMY Newsletter that deconstructs how you build a portfolio career to prepare yourself for the future of work: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062✍? Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442