Doug Curling
Managing Director
New Kent Capital/New Kent Consulting
doug@newkentcap.com
So let’s talk about……..
- Business Plans
- Presenting & Selling Ideas
- How Do I Get Started ?
- Knowing What To Do…& When
- Choosing Partners
- Managing Frustrations
- The Music Business Today & Tomorrow
Business Plans
- Covering the basics…..in the right order
- Having the “Pitch” down cold
- Be Excited !!!!
- Be Organized – You MIGHT have 20 - 30
good minutes before total ADD kicks in
- No more than 10 – 15 pages
- Loose/Tight meeting pace
- Communicating with the right people
Business Plan – Do’s
- The Big Idea or the Big Outcome (‘Make
-
Meaning’)
The ‘Problem’ and why it matters
The current solutions and why they fall short
What you’re building and how/when
Why you’re different (and better!)
Your spend plan and expected results
The (obvious) questions & answers
Business Plan – Don’ts
- Produce an Org Chart showing you as CEO If you
-
haven’t done anything yet !
Attempt to build a solution for a problem you
don’t understand
Disgorge spreadsheets of meaningless
financials
Expect the ‘Bankers’ to start by paying you a big
salary
Talk to anyone in-depth without knowing who
they are, what they know & what they’ve done
Presenting & Selling Ideas
-
-
Start with the right introduction from the right person
Get your $%^& together before the meeting
Know the best time & medium
I don’t need you to read me powerpoints
Answer ‘Why should this matter to me?’ early
Know what others have done before you
Have a definitive plan & timeline
Always have a specific ‘Ask’
You don’t know who really matters --- there are no little
people !
How Do I Get Started ?
- ‘You can’t change what you don’t
-
understand’
Deal with the toughest issue first
Identify and accomplish your #1 objective
each day
Know whether value is being created ‘in the
essence or the edges’
Everybody needs a big fan club – recruit
advocates, supporters and friends
Choosing Partners
- Don’t confuse people that are good with
-
people that are talented
Don’t surround yourself with people that
need your money
Know what you suck at and fill the voids
Keep away from people that belittle your
ambitions
Identify the problems and ‘staple’ the right
people to each of them
Managing Frustrations
- Learn to cooperate with the inevitable
- ‘Do or Do Not – There Is No Try’
- If you set out to take Rome – take Rome
- Do you want to feel better or do you want to
get what you want ?
- ‘Not everything worth doing is worth doing
well’
- No battle plan survives contact with the
enemy
The Music Business……
- You have to have GREAT songs
- You have to have a GREAT live show
- You have to have a GREAT fan base
- You have to be willing to GRIND it out
‘They put us in a van and sent us on a summer
tour to see if we could survive on the road for
3 months and come back alive’
The Music Business…..
- Recording/Production can be do it yourself
- Distribution is everywhere
- Promotion can be self-managed
- Merch is cheap and important
- Live/Acoustic/Demo is rare and desirable
- Fans want to be part of something
- Fans will pay for closeness and special
- Protect & build the brand
The Music Business……
- The old guard still owns ‘the matrix’
- Cutting through the clutter requires work
- Buy-on’s are a rip-off
- Gear/Wheels are important and valuable
- Stale happens very fast
- $10 minus $1 minus ??????
- Retail is a meaningless number
- Everybody is in the data business
Final Thoughts
- Hard work does not guarantee success ---
-
but less than your best does guarantee less
success
Luck matters --- and luck favors the
prepared
Timing matters --- ‘to be right too soon is to
be wrong’
Someone else wants what you want
The network effect is real --- and effective
Questions ?
Doug Curling
New Kent Capital
doug@newkentcap.com
678-672-4010 (office)
678-672-4016 (fax)