Lindsay Campbell Back Online With 'Small Business Rules'

Lindsay Campbell is back on the web.  Today kicks off the first season of Small Business Rules, a new web series from Next New Networks starring Campbell in a familiar role as business-minded host meeting top entrepreneurs around the country.

We’ve been watching Campbell’s online work for years now, and most readers will recognize her as the first host of CBS’s popular (and long running) Wall Street satire series Wallstrip, which was cancelled late last year along with Campbell’s subsequent series, the Streamy-nominated Moblogic.

The Stanford grad brings a unique blend of business savvy with lighthearted and lively hosting chops. Next New Networks’ co-founder Tim Shey knew this when he approached her first to host the new series. “We knew she could talk credibly about business,” said Shey. “We needed somebody who could be great host, produce, write and think of things on the fly.” He added that unlike Wallstrip, which often featured large public companies, “now she’s looking at companies at a much different stage in their life cycle.”

For the first two episodes, each around six minutes long, Campbell profiles two New York-based startups—men’s trendsetting newsletter Thrillist and exotic sports car rental shop Gotham Dream Cars. Upcoming episodes, which will be shot throughout the fall, will run the gambit in terms of business types, including episodes with Nobu and Tribeca Grill restauranteur Drew Nieporent, CafeMom founders Michael Sanchez and Andrew Shue and a profile of handmade marketplace Etsy

Coming in as lead sponsor for the series is American Express, which is hoping to drive attention to its new hub for small business owners dubbed Open Forum. The sponsorship deal means for now the show won’t have its own destination site and will instead release on AMEX’s Idea Hub, which features other online business content from sites like Mashable, Business Insider and Alltop.

The business of profiling young startups isn’t exactly new, though branching out beyond the insular tech startup scene, where series like The Founders reside, is refreshing. “We’re really interested in entrepreneurship in general and the challenges that small business faces,” said Shey. “It’s so much fun to have them talk and tell their stories, finding that small business advice that they can share.” Though Shey admits, “the show will only work if we find great business owners.”

Shey says they are planning on doing at least 20 episodes of Small Business Rules this year, and unlike some other Next New Networks series, will be scheduled in ‘seasons’ rather than running indefinitely.

NOTE: The series will premiere online today, though as of this writing the episodes have not been published online. We’ll update as soon as the embed codes are available.