Fortune, known for big business coverage, gets entrepreneurial

The business magazine known for its coverage of big business because of its Fortune 500 list wants to spend more time covering smaller operations and their issues.

Fortune.com has quietly launched a section on its website for coverage about entrepreneurs and is looking for an editor to oversee that content.

The content includes a mix of original reporting, posts from outside contributors, video and potentially a podcast, said Aaron Task, the digital editor of Fortune.com. Fortune is looking for someone with an editorial vision for the vertical and ability to build a community around entrepreneurial issues, potentially leading to Fortune-sponsored conferences and/or local meet-ups.

“Young people like independence, and are nurturing startup ideas on the side or are at least dreaming about it,” said Alan Murray, editor of Fortune, in a phone conversation Thursday with Talking Biz News. “So there’s a real appetite for entrepreneurialism, or social entrepreneurialism with a purpose.”

Inc. and Entrepreneur are the two business magazines that cater specifically to people interested in reading about start-up companies and entrepreneurs, and Murray concedes that Fortune will be competing with them. “I think they do some good stuff in the space,” he said.

But he also notes that Fortune is attempting to decrease the average age of its reader, which has fallen by seven years into the 40s since Murray took over two years ago. The Fortune content will be digital only, largely focused on mobile devices and aimed at younger readers.

“Fortune is seen as, for good reason, the magazine of big business, the Fortune 500,” said Murray. “That’s a perfectly fine thing. The percentage of the GDP that comes from the Fortune 500 is greater than it has ever been. But we feel like we needed to do more for the entrepreneur.”

Fortune’s focus on covering innovators and entrepreneurs has previously focused on its 40 under 40 franchise.

Murray noted that when he entered journalism in the 1970s, young people who wanted to change the world entered government. Today, young people are more interested in using businesses to change society.

“We want Fortune to be the place for people who want to succeed big in business,” said Murray, who is attending the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. “A lot of startups have big dreams, and we want Fortune to be a magazine that appeals to them.”

The entrepreneur section of Fortune.com will start with a four-person editorial staff but expand later, added Murray.