Athan Stephanopoulos

What does it take for a startup to succeed in music-tech? More than Product-Market fit -- you also need Industry Market fit and Investor Market fit. I wrote about these patterns https://lnkd.in/gF4wBSfX

338

31 Comments

TV right now is wall-to-wall "mid." But why? I think a lot of pieces right now are missing the true culprit. For example, this James Poniewozik piece does a fantastic job of laying out what exactly that looks like: all-star casts and highly-competent direction, but familiar and low-stakes. Like a fancy cheeseburger. He, like most pieces on the subject, pins it on the streaming business model. I think there's something else going on that's different about TV today versus when people were glued to The Wire, The Sopranos, or Twin Peaks that goes deeper than the underlying business model. It's our second screen. When I talk to friends about what they're watching, a lot admit they can't watch foreign language TV, or stuff that's too complex, because they have their phone or laptop open. We’ve relegated TV to comfortable background noise. The streaming model gives people what they want, but what they overwhelmingly want is comfortable and mid, not because that's where their tastes lie if something has 100% of their attention. It's because they are calibrating their TV taste to what works for 40% of their attention. I don't have a solution, but I'm pretty sure that's the cause. I don't think Hollywood has lost its spark or financiers have lost their taste for risk. We've lost our taste for stuff that requires our full attention.

37

6 Comments

WSJ piece by Dalvin Brown is my highlight for this week's "Read the News" which looks at the cross section of tech, economics, politics, and PR/media relations. All four are in this piece with highlights of the tech companies making it easier to lend funds to friends and family along with the question of how regulation and taxes come into play. Way to go Dalvin Brown! #readthenews

24

2 Comments

I’ve found myself having a lot of conversations about AI with media companies and creators for the past several weeks. From publishers considering licensing to LLMs to content creators thinking about how different tools might enhance workflows or creative output, my overwhelming sense is that we’ve reached a moment of mass confusion in media. For media companies (from individuals to conglomerates), there is a cascade of questions. Will the output of a model one day destroy my business? Should I wait for a legal or regulatory response? Should I be dealing with these companies? And even if I wanted to, has the ship sailed and it’s now too late? I’ve been surprised by the consistency of questions across companies with different businesses, and in different verticals and sectors. The answer that comes up most is we just don’t know. And as a savvy media exec said recently to me, we need to have a good umbrella instead of just shouting at the rain. Across all this uncertainty, one thing remains clear: as AI becomes more a part of our lives, audiences, readers, and fans are going to be increasingly seeking craft, meaning, and connection. These are things that LLMs can’t quite replicate and as a mass of AI generated content floods the zone of our distribution networks, how will we find these vital and necessary values from the scarcity of authentic stories, information, and entertainment that we turn to? Well, we just don’t know. But, we do know that GenAI platforms need to understand the concerns and realities of creative work and the anxieties very much at play. At the same time, media companies and creators need to find the opportunities to use these tools to deepen their connections and refine their craft. Both are challenges, but there is opportunity if we look for the the creative tools that will enhance and enrich but not replace the people best equipped to be crafting the next generation of creative, meaningful work.

21

In case you missed it, catch up on last week's insightful episode of Rock The Stage Show! 🎤 Watch as host Rich Trigger Bontrager and Curt Doty, Founder of RealmIQ and former NBCUniversal executive, dive deep into the impact of AI on our lives and careers, along with what the future holds for artificial intelligence. 🤖 Don't miss this engaging discussion on The Public Place Network #Talkshow #AI #Technology_News #futurecast #futurist

6

INTERVIEWS OF 2024 SXSW PITCH WINNERS: Dhavel Patel of Lotus Every March in Austin, 50 of the world's most impactful startups showcase their talents at SXSW Pitch. Today we begin a series of short interviews with some of the category winners from the 2024 event. Founder and CEO Dhaval Patel has been growing Lotus for three years. At this year's SXSW Pitch, his San Jose based startup emerged as the winner of the "Smart Cities, Transportation & Sustainability" category. Patel's short answers to our questions are below. SXSW: What is Lotus?  Patel: A wearable ring that controls objects at home by pointing. See https://www.getlotus.com/ SXSW: What community does Lotus serve? Patel: Folks with limited mobility -- older adults, veteran soldiers, people with disabilities.  SXSW: Who is your all-time favorite entrepreneur? Patel: Warren Buffett. SXSW: Best startup-related advice you have received? Patel: Don't start building first, find the need first. SXSW: Current entrepreneurial trend that excites you the most? Patel: Desire for tech that is intuitive and simple. SXSW: Fail fast or perseverance? Patel: Persevere in failing fast repeatedly. SXSW: Favorite VC? Patel: Andreessen Horowitz. SXSW: Favorite gadget or device? Patel: Apple AirPods. SXSW: Government can best support startups by Patel: Moving faster. SXSW: Most over-hyped technology at present? Patel: AI. SXSW: Most under-hyped technology at present? Patel: Consumer hardware. SXSW: What did you enjoy most about your experience at SXSW? Patel: The people -- each person wanting to make the world a better place. SXSW: What is your best trait as an entrepreneur? Patel: Simplifying complex problems. SXSW: What is your best advice for other startups? Patel: Focus (say "no" to more). Learn more about Dhaval Patel of Lotus plus other 2024 SXSW Pitch winners by listening to the audio of their session at this year's event. See https://lnkd.in/gHtwQB8n Applications for SXSW Pitch 2025 will open in late summer. See https://lnkd.in/gE2hcVPK #sxsw, #sxsw2024, #startups, #founders, Chris Valentine, Dhaval Patel, SXSW, #venturecapital, #entrepreneur, #entrepreneurs, #startup, #founderstories, #sxswpitch, Lotus (Techstars'23), #techstars, #Austin, #ATX, #creativity, #innovation, #hardware, #consumerhardware, #pitch, #accessibility,

54

3 Comments

INTERVIEWS OF 2024 SXSW PITCH WINNERS:  Angelo Huang of Swif Fifty of the world's most impactful startups showcase their talents at SXSW Pitch every March in Austin. In this ongoing LinkedIn series, we interview category winners at this year's event. CEO Angelo Huang has been building Swif.ai for three years. Based in Los Altos, California, his startup won the "Enterprise & Smart Data" category at this year's edition of SXSW Pitch. Read Huang's answers to our bite-sized questions below. SXSW: What is Swif.ai?  HUANG: Swif is an AI powered unified device security for your continuous compliance. See https://www.swif.ai/ SXSW: What community does Swif.ai serve? HUANG: We serve the community of modern CISO and IT managers. SXSW: Who is your all-time favorite entrepreneur? HUANG: Elon Musk. SXSW: Best startup-related book you have read? HUANG: "Anything you Want" by Derek Sivers. SXSW: Best startup-related advice you have received? HUANG: Make something useful. SXSW: Current entrepreneurial trend that excites you the most? HUANG: AI and robotics. SXSW: Fail fast or perseverance? HUANG: Perseverance for great things and fail fast for half baked progress. SXSW: Energy drink of choice? HUANG: Monster. SXSW: If I wasn't running Swif.ai, I would be HUANG: Starting my next company. SXSW: Favorite VC? HUANG: The ones that will invest and have invested in Swif.ai. SXSW: Most over-hyped technology at present? HUANG: AI. SXSW: Most under-hyped technology at present? HUANG: AI. SXSW: What did you enjoy most about your experience at SXSW? HUANG: It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. SXSW: My startup is unique because  HUANG: Continuous compliance is one of the biggest opportunities in the next 5 years. SXSW: What is your startup's greatest need at present? HUANG: Fundraising. SXSW: What is your best advice for other startups? HUANG: Figure out GTM is very important. SXSW: What is your best trait as a leader? HUANG: A growth mindset. SXSW: What is your best trait as an entrepreneur? HUANG: I am relentless and resourceful. Learn more about Angelo Huang of Swif.ai as well as the other outstanding 2024 SXSW Pitch winners by listening to the audio of their session at this year's event. See https://lnkd.in/gHtwQB8n Finally, if you are a startup, be sure to apply for SXSW Pitch 2025 when the entry process opens in late summer. See https://lnkd.in/gE2hcVPK #sxsw, #sxsw2024, #sxsw2025, #founders, #founderstories, #entrepreneur, #entrepreneurism, #startups, #startup, Angelo Huang, Chris Valentine, Swif, #creativity, #innovation, #venturecapital, #funding, #artificialintelligence, #AI, #pitch, #pitchcompetition

50

1 Comment

My first D&D book release was a success! Heroes & Heirlooms raised nearly $3,000 on Kickstarter, and with the prints being sent out, it's time for Astral Door Gaming's next book. I'm happy to announce Petrichor's Codex: Secrets of Enchantment and Alchemy will be coming this year. Inside this book, you'll find components you can harvest from every single monster in D&D's SRD, along with brand-new plants you can collect. Putting these together will be the exciting part! Through some work, you'll be able to grind, mash, and mix these ingredients to create powerful enchantments to strengthen your equipment, mix questionable potions, and even craft new magic items altogether. Not to mention, new sub-classes and more!

10

For the final episode of Fund/Build/Scale's first season, I sat down with repeat founders Dheeraj Pandey (Nutanix, DevRev) and Manish Chandra (Kaboodle, Poshmark). For more than an hour, we discussed some of the fundamental challenges founders must overcome if they hope to be successful over the long term. Some of the takeaways are below, but our conversation went well beyond basic best practices. We talked about how they learned to embrace paradoxical values, overcome feelings of isolation, stay in close touch with customers, and perhaps most critically, adapt to challenges. As Dheeraj said, "building a startup is a mental game more than anything else." I'd like to thank everyone who's backed Fund/Build/Scale, starting with Navin Chaddha and Kamini Ramani at Mayfield Fund and Rehan Jalil at Securiti. They've been great sponsors, and I'm deeply appreciative of their support! Season 2 starts soon, and I don't want you to miss an episode, so please subscribe!

10

Your character is built through facing the chaos head on. Check out the full interview with Fred Wang. A Venture Capitalist out of Adams Street Partners. Fred Wang YouTube: https://lnkd.in/ef6BjQQg Spotify: https://lnkd.in/ekAH-V6J Apple Podcast: https://lnkd.in/exQs4yXe Subscribe on YouTube | Follow & Rate on Spotify | Follow & Review on Apple Podcast | #highvaluediscussions #podcast #entrepreneurship #business #venturecapitalist #investing #financialliteracy #mindset #innovation #tech #technology

4

My thanks to Fubo’s Co-Founder and CEO, David Gandler, who sat down with me for an in-depth discussion about their lawsuit filed against Disney, FOX, and WBD, its Q1 earnings numbers, industry challenges around content licensing pricing and bundling and Fubo’s goal to get to profitability in 2025. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/e5eYZFXT David defines antitrust, why Fubo believes the JV is anticompetitive and how the suit's outcome could impact the entire industry. We also highlight why so many carriage disputes are happening, leading to a fragmentation of sports content and an unfriendly fan experience. We discuss the pricing and bundling of vMVPD services, including how Fubo picks RSNs to work with and why pricing for OTT services never goes down. Finally, David recaps Fubo’s most recent earnings, including its subscriber growth numbers, lower net loss, the recent reduction of its debt, and Fubo's operating plan as they work towards profitability. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/e5eYZFXT -- #fubo #SVOD #AVOD #streamingmedia Disclaimer: I do not own any stock in Fubo, Disney, FOX or WBD.

42

I recently had the privilege to speak to room full of Chief executives in Chicago on the Art of the Pivot in the Age of AI. It's such an important, time sensitive topic that I wanted to share that with all of you. And so I decided to launch something fun! 🌟 Big Announcement! I'm thrilled to unveil IDEA SHARE, a brand-new podcast that brings you face-to-face with groundbreaking insights from industry leaders on the latest trends! 🎙️ Each episode of Idea Share is designed to spark your curiosity and guide you through the complexities of today’s fast-paced world. In each episode, we will share discussions that promise to raise important questions and also to inspire actionable change. 🌐 Our debut episode, "The Art of the Pivot in the Age of AI," explores how adaptability and innovation have become indispensable in the AI-driven landscape. We discuss why mastering these skills is essential for anyone looking to succeed today. 👉 Subscribe to Idea Share to transform your understanding and approach to modern challenges. Share this with your network to help spread the word about this new space where we will share ideas! Available on apple, spotify, and most other podcast platforms today! More episodes coming soon... #IdeaShare #PodcastLaunch #Leadership #FutureOfWork #AI #pivot

32

14 Comments

The Neighborhood Studios team spent the last few days thinking about our new idea pipeline and its output. Tons of thoughts on this after being in a venture studio for 2 years. Here are some summary stats... - 1,750 new (raw) ideas considered per year. - 110 of those are given a second glance. - 66 of those are seriously considered. - 10 of those become experiments...real products in the hands of customers. - 2 of those are spun-out into studio companies. What the studio team has been discussing over the past few days is that 66 number. That's the number of ideas that 3 people on the team can dig into every year. Venture studios can be perceived as a "startup factory"...an engine to launch startups. The reality is that venture studios are a machine to invalidate ideas. We invalidate many more ideas than we validate. We touch 1,750 ideas per year, seriously dive into 66 of them, build experiments for 10 of them and only launch 2 of them. All that work turns into 2 studio companies per year that have a way higher success rate than the average startup in the wild. Said another way...startups are hard. Talk with Tapan Patel Gabe Hart Whit Anderson IV Jonathan Brinson if you wanna talk about this. They are world class.

127

30 Comments

From Ashley Carman's #podcast newsletter for Bloomberg: "Not long ago, making narrative podcast series was a good setup... a deal for an eight or 10 episode series during these glory days could come with a budget of $500,000. Not too shabby. But after the rough stretch in the podcast industry over the past year-and-a-half or so, during which both the biggest distributors and advertisers tightened their spending, such deals have almost entirely disappeared. Budgets for these types of shows are now typically going for half as much, in the range of $150,000 to $250,000." https://lnkd.in/gdy_-tY6

10

2 Comments

UGC creators should be on red alert. UGC is turning AI-GC. We've been sharing our thoughts on AI disruption on Influencer Marketing, and predicted UGC was the most vulnerable category of the creator economy, the most susceptible to transformation. Now Techcrunch reports that TikTok will allow brands to create UGCs (more like AI GCs) with genAI. What does this mean for creators? What does this mean for brands and agencies? Will YouTube and IG follow? https://lnkd.in/dU-iPaBK

3

Dude Perfect raised $100M for global biz expansion. The deal is getting lots of buzz, but our team’s math signals challenges ahead. Let’s break it down… DEAL DETAILS • $100 - 300M growth capital investment • Led by Highmount Capital • Unclear if 100% invested upfront OR draw down of commitment over time • No previous capital raised USE OF FUNDS • Hire mgmt team to expand biz • More live experiences incl int’l tour, consumer products • Grow content formats, frequency, channels, global localization e.g. animation, TV, movies, streaming • Extend brand beyond 5 founders by building talent network • New HQ in Frisco, TX as prod facility and “family-friendly entertainment destination”: – Retail store, podcasts / gaming / fan UGC spaces, trick shot tower, DP museum, mini golf, restaurants – Original plans for 3-story, 30 acre facility est to cost $100M+, 2 yrs to build COMPANY OVERVIEW: Dude Perfect • Digital-native comedy and sports media brand • Faith-based mission: “We’re about giving back, spreading joy and glorifying Jesus Christ”  • Other YouTube franchises: “Stereotypes,” “Overtime”, “Bucket List”  • Media brand also incl books, mobile games, board games and toys, and merch / retail / food and beverage partnerships • 25 current team members PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS • 60M YouTube Followers, 17B views • Est 2024 revenue: $50M per DP • Est 2023 and 2022 revenue: $25M and $20M per WSJ  • Consumer product partnerships incl Nerf toy line, Columbia Sportswear • Partnered with A Parent Media co to launch a streaming service • ESPN “30 for 30” doc premiering at Dallas Int’l film festival • TV series on CMT in 2016, later aired on Nickelodeon • Alternate broadcasts for Amazon’s Thursday Night Football • 4 live nationwide tours as of 2023 ORIGIN STORY • Founded 2009 by 5 friends at Texas A&M • Cofounders = twins Coby Cotton and Cory Cotton, Tyler Toney, Cody Jones, Garrett Hilbert • Started as YT channel featuring trick shot videos INVESTOR OVERVIEW: Highmount Capital • Growth stage and middle mkt PE fund for tech, media, healthcare • Founded in 2023 by jason illian and David Hawkins • 4 team members on website + advisor • 3 team members have faith-based ties per bios • No other investments listed on website other than DP My takeaway... I really like and support the trend of increased investment into YouTubers and digital-native media brands. But as I wrote about in my 2024 State of Creator x Media capital markets reports (will link them below), investment must match market and opportunity size. To ensure good ROI, and to set good precedent for future investment into our space. The DP bet is exciting, but could be overly optimistic based on our prelim math. My colleague Michael Booth's post breaks the math down (link below). More analysis to come in my Friday newsletter. —- I’m the founder of RockWater Industries. We do m&a and strategy advisory for media, agencies, and creator economy. My dm’s are open. #media #agency #creatoreconomy

92

11 Comments

Zach Seward gave this talk today at an event on AI & The News hosted by Aspen Digital. The event was Chatham House Rules, but since Zach published it, and I appreciated it, I'm sharing it here. It's worth reading the whole thing. Come for Tillie the ATM blowing out birthday candles and stay for the provocative point. "AI is the most anthropomorphized technology in history, starting with the name—intelligence—and plenty of other words thrown around the field: learning, neural, vision, attention, bias, hallucination. These references only make sense to us because they are hallmarks of being human." "Anthropomorphizing AI not only misleads, but suggests we are on equal footing with, even subservient to, this technology, and there's nothing we can do about it." https://lnkd.in/eNfm2ckD

15