"How much money do you need to start? Other than identifying a mission and an editorial vision, this is probably the most important question a would-be nonprofit news entrepreneur should ask at the outset. If you don’t ask it, you’re making the most basic error in starting a business. Moreover, to answer this question, you need a comprehensive initial expense budget, charting how much you’ll spend on everything from salaries to freelance to office space (if any) to benefits to photos to publishing tools to marketing and beyond. In my view, it’s a mistake to begin operations without at least 18 months of spending on hand, and two years is even better. This is hard, and quite likely daunting."