I caught the subway down to wall st. today to meet with an up and coming niche content site, DramaFever.com.  I arrived a little early to this fancy coffee shop called the “financier”.  It was like Starbucks with a french twist.  I didn’t really want anything they had on their menu, but it seemed i had a few minutes to wait, and I didn’t want to just appear like some bum taking a breather in their sitting area, so I got an ice coffee.  For some reason i thought it was going to taste like the iced coffee or thai tea I used to have back in my Univ of Michigan days, but i was quite wrong.  It tasted terrible, its apparent I’m not a coffee drinker on any level.  Just as I was going for another gut wrenching sip, I was in luck, the Drama fever crew had arrived and I could just let the cup sit as decoration.

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I don’t think we’ve covered this topic yet on the blog, but I figure there is no better time than now.  Recently we’ve had the chance to go out and spread the word about Motown.  In general we’ve been well received but, depending on the execution, the all important elevator pitch has garnered different degrees of curiosity.

The first time I found myself pitching the idea, it turned into a 5mins spiel, at the end of which the people in front of me still didn’t completely understand the business.  Now I could easily answer their questions and describe the products value to their application, but the only I was only able to carry such a long conversation due to my environment. In this particular situation I was amongst people genuinely interested in broadband video.  However, I won’t always be so lucky to have that audience. One of the people I was talking to was kinda enough to notice that I need help with the elevator pitch. So he gave me a chance to sit down with him and just throw 6 liners at him.   To be honest, I still don’t think we have the elevator pitch as concise as it should be, but with a little more help and experience we’ll be all set to go.  For anyone looking to learn the art of the elevator pitch, I recommend Venture Hacks, check out this blog entry from them.

The elevator pitch is important for any company that is in the midst of VC introductions.  You really need a concise message, I’d say 180 characters or less, that can deliver impactful insight about your said venture.  It’s how you get your foot in the door.  We’ve been lucky enough at this point to already have our foot in the door, and thus we jumped straight into the Deck Pitch (I guess i’ll write on that later as well). Nonetheless, until we have the appropriate funding in hand, I want to have all my tools in order to execute on a pitch.

As the trip to New York get closer, there is a lot of planning needed to ensure that everything goes to plan.  We have meetings, events and much more to juggle so its a good thing I got my “get organized” wake up call. This week I was reminded of how key organization is to progress.

Monday we had a conference call with Entitled Entertainment regarding an upcoming show with Krazy Bone.  The plan was to connect Entitled with the management of Mitsue and Boola (artists our production group works with).  Then we’d plan out their trip, video opportunities and support the party/performance.  I had everything scheduled, a conference call number setup through instant conference.com and the time/agency for the the call.  When the call came, I was no where to be found.  Moreover, my NY counterparts also weren’t on the call because I didn’t put a specific date in my invitation e-mail, I simply said “tomorrow”.  As we all know, the word tomorrow is subject to interpretation, especially when someone gets the e-mail the day after it’s written haha.

Now this wasn’t a major slip, we pulled the call together 20mins late and got everything accomplishment in a concise timeframe.  However, it was a little bit of a wake up call, because as things continue to ramp up, the schedules will only become more complicated and time contingent.  So this weeks lesson?  Might be time for a blackberry or some sort of desktop based scheduling system that can txt my phone.  If I am able to find such a program for the team, I’ll let you guys know.

Over the weekend, I sat down with a friend of mine who had been following the Initiative since its inception.   As an extremely experienced and web-networking savvy character, he of course has a lot on his plate all of the time, but it has been my goal to pull him over to the Motown side.

For the first time, we sat down and I willingly “opened the books” per say, and gave him a glimpse at the future of our broadband website.  He was instantly intrigued, and on the spot  began to analyze the code of competitor websites.  In just one hour, I gained a new understanding of how to succesfully deliver an immersive video experience, and more importantly monetize it. For example, we found that some websites we thought were competitors actually lack a sufficient revenue model, since they are simply embedding content from other sites and serving it up to their site viewers.  No video website can be successful with just banner ads and pre-roll in-video ads.  In anycase, point of this entry is… we offically have a Chief of Technology (CTO).

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After receiving e-mails and comments from my peers regarding the purpose of this site, I realized it might be time for a quick refresher on what exactly is going on, and why this blog exists.

In short, a young group of entrepreneurs and philanthropists from the Michigan area decided that they wanted to make a difference in Detroit, and help rebuild the economy. This led to a number of business ideas and the one that was found most opportune was a broadband video venture. This venture is code-named Motown Initiative to not only reflect our social mission but also to communicate that the project is entertainment related. Furthermore, it is our hope that this new business will bring Detroit the success it had back in the Motown days.

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I feel as if I’ve mentioned 4^th Deck Productions (4DP) before, but allow me to give a proper introduction. Based in NY, 4DP represents the content and development arm of the Motown Initiative. From original programming, to lifestyle events and commercial productions, they do it all. In the upcoming weeks we’ll be working on the pre-production component of our first MotownIni video. There will be a series of brand videos that will use to help spread the good word about the Initiative. Currently, 4DP is focusing on their latest client Mitsue artist. I think 4DP is going to be able to derive some exciting content from their work with her.

When developing a business it’s important to remain honest with yourself and the team that surrounds you.   I’ll be the first to say, in the long run, I probably will not be CEO of the resulting company.   The skill set needed to run a $100M company is quite different from what is needed to run a few million dollar start-up.  I personally have never labeled myself as true business man, I think that comes with more than the 10 years of experience I have.

I’ve always felt more comfortable with labels entrepreneur and visionary.   In the past, I have worked with teams to bring innovative products to market, but this is the first time I will have put my “businessman hat” on to devise an innovative revenue model.    So while I am still learning, and plan to continue steps towards the label … businessman, I believe my long term role with Motown Initiative, and its resulting business venture, will remain in the thought innovation department.  Developing new product features, strategic alliances and market strategy, those are my specialties.

Who know’s, I could be wrong about myself.  Maybe I will continuously grow and develop into the person that the company needs at the helm.  We will see, only time will tell.  I think I prefer that a seasoned CEO step in though, that will let me stick to the fun stuff haha.

With that said, I recommend that you perform a self-assessment and ask yourself, would you take the CEO position in the company you started?

June  11th, 2009….Earlier on last week one of my partners brought a pitch opportunity to my attention, but it wasn’t the ordinary gig.  Not to my surprise, America is adopting another rip off of a British reality show.  This time it’s the Dragon’s Den, but the show here will be called “The Shark Tank”.   Its funny I had so much trouble coming up with a pitch line for MI, cause for this I can easily describe it as “American idol of Entrepreneurs”.   While I didn’t know who I would be pitching to, I did know casting call was June 6th and I only had a few days to get myself together. (follow the jump)

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June 10th, 2009….Got my ticket to NYC today from Virgin Air, my favorite airlines hands down. If you haven’t been on one of those planes yet, you’re really missing out. Even when you’re not in first class, the ambiance and accommodations are second to none.  Now that they have wifi on all their planes too, I’m quite sure this going to be the best cross country flight ever.

My trips are always for business and pleasure, so I’ll be catching up with some of the parties involved with the Motown Initiative, as well as some family and friends. Should be good times. Our production partner group, 4th Deck Productions, has setup shop and is rolling right along, so that will definitely be my first stop.  We’ll be starting some work on pre-production work and some company strategy task.  It’ll be nice to working with a team and be amongst what’s happening now. I also hope to officially confirm our first strategic alliance during this trip. If there are any good industry events or parties during my stay in NY? I’ll post them up here, so you can look out for that.

March 29, 2009…As the digital realm expands in reach and capability, there are some other businesses suffering, specifically brick-and-mortar retail stores.  Unless the store is selling a product that is exclusive or can satisfy an immediate need, online shopping is often the better alternative.  We all remember the first time we stepped into a Circuit City.  I thought it was one of the coolest stores ever just 10 years ago and now it’s gone.  Where did they go wrong? They failed to continuously refine their business model and innovate within their industry.   One company in this industry that i know is not going to suffer the same fate is Best Buy.

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