Media & Marketing Company portrait

The School of Hard Knocks

A business media platform co-founded by James Dumoulin, using interviews with entrepreneurs as the foundation for videos and educational work.

2 min readEditorial review October 17, 2026

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In this article

A question at the start of a media business

The School of Hard Knocks developed around conversations with people who had built businesses. A camera and questions about entrepreneurial experience supplied the starting point for a recognisable interview format.

James Dumoulin describes an early shift from giving advice to asking experienced operators about their own work. Other entrepreneurs’ accounts became the material at the centre of the platform.

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Publishing and teaching content creation

The business publishes videos through its official School of Hard Knocks channel. Preparing the finished interviews involves research, subject selection and the production decisions surrounding the conversation.

Its educational workshops extend that work into teaching content creation. The official programme discusses ideas, scripts, visuals and the use of AI tools in production, connecting the publishing operation with a learning product.

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What happens before an interview reaches a feed

The finished School of Hard Knocks video is the visible result of several production decisions. A team has to choose a subject, recognise a useful question and shape the recorded material into something an audience can follow. The official workshop presentation discusses research, ideas, scripts and visuals, showing the work surrounding the conversation itself.

This makes the business more than the act of pointing a camera at an entrepreneur. The platform needs a recurring editorial format and a process through which different interviews still feel recognisable as part of the same brand. The company’s educational material turns some of that production experience into a subject other business owners can study.

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An audience relationship that can support learning

A short interview can give somebody a first encounter with a business owner’s experience. A longer conversation or workshop gives that initial curiosity another setting. The School of Hard Knocks connects these formats through an interest in how people build companies and communicate what they have learned.

Dumoulin’s account of moving from advice to interviewing is central to that model. The platform’s material begins with other people’s experience, while its own education work concerns the process of creating and distributing content. These are complementary activities with different subjects: learning about entrepreneurship through guests, and learning about production through the team’s media practice.

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James Dumoulin as interviewer and co-founder

Dumoulin’s entrepreneur portrait follows his role in developing the media platform and learning from its guests. A Faith Driven Entrepreneur interview provides his own account of the direction behind the work.

This page treats The School of Hard Knocks as a media business and brand. The official channel and workshop site are the public routes into its content and educational activity.

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The connected portraits

The people behind the business.

Entrepreneur portrait

James Dumoulin

Co-founder of The School of Hard Knocks, known for street interviews with entrepreneurs, millionaires and billionaires about their work and business journeys.

Read the portrait

Photo: The School of Hard Knocks / official workshop website

The evidence behind the account