venture capital

Is this good? Musicians become venture capitalists

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How do musicians make money today? Album sales are down 14%, single downloads are down 11%, and only the streaming services are up, 28%. Technology has forced music artists to completely rethink the way they approach their businesses. We’ve all had to adapt.

The most successful artists in this new landscape have begun to look at new business models and new industries to strengthen their existing brands. They’re extending their brand into areas like technology, gaming, fashion, and lifestyle content — essentially becoming entertainment platforms.

What Happened When Linkin Park Asked Harvard for Help with Its Business Model – Kiel Berry, Harvard Business Review (23 June 2015)

It’s a detailed and absorbing read but also a bit depressing. In order to keep going as a band, Linking Park long ago became a business. There’s nothing wrong with artists being business people, it’s even good that this is necessary, yet surely there are limits, right?

Linkin Park even sounds like an industrial estate.

Read the full piece.

Video: Don’t Follow Your Passion, Not Exactly

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Not everyone has a passion for something, not everyone has found what they could be so passionate about. But even if you have, this fella argues that you shouldn’t pursue it as your life’s career. Rather than look for the thing that fires you up the most, look for the thing that you’re best at. That either sounds like defeatism or hair-splitting but I suppose if you’re great at something and you do it for a living and it goes well, you can fake the passion.

Ben Horowitz co-founded Andreessen Horowitz – it’s a venture capital firm and you know what crazy creative bastards venture capitalists are – just gave a commencement speech at his old university and boiled this idea down.

Ben Horowitz, cofounder and partner of famed venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, delivered the commencement address at his alma mater Columbia University last month and offered up some pretty unconventional career advice. The gist: don’t follow your passion. 

Via 99U