At a recent NYU Publishing event students had the opportunity to meet a few of the publishing program’s advisors. We’ve covered Jamie Raab of Grand Central Publishing and Stephen Riggio, CEO of Barnes & Noble. Next up is Martin Maleska, a partner at Riverstone Partners, LLC.
When Mr. Maleska opened up with his story about getting into publishing, I felt like I was hearing a broken record. Like the two speakers before him, he says it was, “an accident.” Now, 30 years later, Mr. Maleska owns parts of seven media companies. Oops! Before breaking into publishing at McMillan, Maleska actually worked building polyester plants in Brazil. It just goes to show you never really know how things are going to play out . . .
So, what exactly does the part-owner of seven media companies do every day?”
“What I do is look at new business models,” said Maleska. “The world is incredibly more complex than when I grew up. I don’t understand all of the technology that we use – not even close – but I always assume that if I can find the business rationale for doing something, there’s someone who will figure out how to do it. The technology is there and is infinitely more capable of doing things than we have yet tested. You are coming into an industry with endless opportunity that is only limited by your own imagination.”
Maleska tempered this wave of optimism with the brief caution that publishers "need to remain very flexible . . . You may say you’re book people or you may say you’re magazine people . . . but at the end of the day, all of the distinctions between media are blurring. There’s no digital business anymore, it’s all blended.”
Digital or no, in the end, Mr. Maleska couldn't help waxing a bit nostalgic, singing the same oh-to-be-young refrain as his fellow panelists.
“This is a very exciting time for the business. If anything, I envy all of you the careers that are ahead.”
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