The American

Questions with Publishing Director Sam Schulman

1. What do you consider the single most important achievement your magazine has accomplished in today's marketplace?

Showing that a magazine of high editorial quality about business could be executed with fewer than 10 editorial and art people, could attract an audience, could attract press attention, and could attract strong advertising support.

2. Looking back, what was the most important hurdle you were able to overcome?

Getting a hearing from the advertising community.

3. What was the biggest pleasant surprise?

How comparatively welcoming the news industry-up and down the entire distribution chain-was about taking on an ambitious new, but comparatively small publication

4. What is the biggest challenge you are facing today?

Expanding our publication’s audience without succumbing to the temptation of spending vast sums of money on risky audience-building investments.

5. Imagine you have a magic wand and you can strike the magazine and make it human? Describe that human being.

An experienced, successful businessperson with an entrepreneurial bent, with real curiosity and who is likely to be inspired to make imaginative business decisions by new ideas he or she comes across-who dresses well and lives well.

6. The number of new magazine launches has been on a steady increase. What advice do you offer to someone wanting to start a new magazine?

Make sure you know who your audience is-almost by individual name-how big it is, and how you are going to reach it. Do a reality check-does it really exist, or do you simply wish you lived in a world where it does?

7. Finish this sentence: In 2011, your magazine will be…

Essential intellectual equipment for business and political figures and individual investors not just in this country, but worldwide.