ROck N Roll MBA
Sometimes the best education isn’t in the classroom
When I give people my “about me” spiel I jokingly mention that starting out, my only applicable business experience was booking bands. I should add playing in bands to that story as well. Inspired by a post by a buddy on Linkedin, I took a few minutes to reflect on what I learned.
Giving and receiving feedback: a song only gets better by continuing to practice, iterate and refine. Just like music, business isn’t something you arrive at–it’s a process.
Someone in the crowd will always boo you. Don’t dwell on that once voice, move on.
Collaboration and teamwork: helping load and unload equipment, borrowing another band’s amp, or letting someone use my keyboard for their set. By working together, we are able to make what feels like an insurmountable task manageable and rewarding.
Branding: making the band t-shirt before you even have your first practice. Sometimes crafting a brand is more fun than doing the thing (Shhh….don’t tell anyone I said that). I see people doing the business equivalent of this all the time.
Networking: without this skill there wouldn’t have been any shows to play, a crowd to play to, or bands to book.
Perfection kills momentum: if we would have waited till every song was just right, we never would have played our first show. Starting small and unsteady is better than never starting at all. (we never really graduated beyond small and unsteady, but that’s ok!)
Creative Problem Solving: amp broke, bass player bailed, forgot your chords? Now what? Figuring things out on the fly and making sure the show goes on is an invaluable quality.
- Branding: making the band t-shirt before you even have your first practice. Sometimes crafting a brand is more fun than doing the thing (Shhh….don’t tell anyone I said that). I see people doing the business equivalent of this all the time.
- Networking: without this skill there wouldn’t have been any shows to play, a crowd to play to, or bands to book.
- Perfection kills momentum: if we would have waited till every song was just right, we never would have played our first show. Starting small and unsteady is better than never starting at all. (we never really graduated beyond small and unsteady, but that’s ok!)
- Creative Problem Solving: amp broke, bass player bailed, forgot your chords? Now what? Figuring things out on the fly and making sure the show goes on is an invaluable quality.
My life 20 years ago vs today is very different, but all the lessons still resonate. Sometimes the most valuable business experience comes from things that didn’t feel very business-like when they were happening.
