I recently watched the movie Exit Through the Gift Shop from well-known artist Banksy. I got a kick out of this film for multiple reasons having liked Banksy's artwork for years now.
What most amused me though is how well it goes about making you question what celebrity is and how much you can achieve by becoming famous. The key point for me is questioning whether you really need to be creative and innovative above and beyond being famous.
Then Mike Butcher over at Techcrunch went and posted something this morning about startup teams trumping celebrity tech entrepreneurs. In summary, he too is making the point that execution far outweighs celebrity.
Basically, what I'm getting at, is all the parallels you're starting to see between the startup world and the movie business. I am definitely not an expert on the movie business and can only imagine what it's truly like from afar. Yet, we've all seen enough of it to realize a bit how things work in Hollywood. You basically have a couple large companies or studios as they're usually called. There you have management at the top who are the power-brokers in the industry. They back films which are used as vehicles to market actors who either succeed or not. If they do succeed, they are cast in further films and a ton of marketing is thrown at these films, regardless of whether these actors have talent or not.
Ultimately, the goal is to make as much money as possible and if you're the one making all this money, keep other people out so you can continue to make as much money as possible. Sure, there are some stand-out actors, managers and studios who go against the grain but basically it's an industry optimized to make money. Simplified by me immensely but I believe you understand what I am saying.
Now let's switch over to the startup world. It's no longer Hollywood and we're now a bit north in Silicon Valley. You have a couple firms who call all the shots and are known as Tier 1 VC's (with some major players like Google, Apple, and Facebook thrown in for good measure).
These VC's fund firms instead of films run by entrepreneurs instead of actors. Some of these entrepreneurs are successful and some are not. Those who are get funded further by these Tier 1 firms. Lots of companies are started and sold since these power brokers in the Valley sit on each other's boards and pass deals back and forth. The power brokers continue to make money and those entrepreneurs who don't lead to successful exits get weeded out (where's the reality TV version of "out to pasture" for entrepreneurs?)
Ultimately, as in the movie business, you make as much money as possible and keep out the riff-raff who would keep you from making tons of money as long as possible.
Now don't get me wrong. I am in no way arguing about whether the movie or startup business is right or wrong or skewed in someone's favor or not. I'm also probably simplifying it too much as well. But the point I am making is that we are in a world where it's about making money. Sure, you can get your touchy-feely on and say you're changing the world but ultimately you wouldn't "work" if it wasn't about making some money.
Hence, my advice to any entrepreneur is to take advantage of whatever you have if you ultimately want to be successful. If you are naturally good looking, get your face out there. Be on TV and in the press. If it helps you make money, go for it.
At the same time, if media attention doesn't help you make more money, don't focus on it. Get your pretty head down to business and execute like hell to innovate, optimize and sell your product. Or have the best of both worlds. Be a CEO focussed on getting your brand or product out there and have a number two (great blog post by Ben Horowitz) who takes care of business. What you need to focus on is making money and being the scrappy entrepreneur that you are, you'll optimize wherever you can to achieve your goal.
In the end it's never about who was most popular that determines success. Just think back to all those football players and cheerleaders in high school. (I've seen some of them from my high school....thank you Facebook.....and had a good laugh!) So often there are people you never hear about making tons of cash since they don't need to focus on media.
On the other hand, if Twitter/Foursquare/Zynga/Groupon hadn't received so much media attention, you think they'd be where they are now? I highly doubt it and I guarantee you that they had a clear strategy in place to use media (and position their founders) from the start. Hence, don't waste time focussed on the wrong things. If you're a celebrity entrepreneur who's counting his millions hats off to you. If you've become a media darling and are broke, well tough luck kid. Try something new.
By the way, here's what Exit Through the Gift Shop is about cut and pasted from Wikipedia. Think what you will about whether it's a real story or not but reast assured the dollars earned by "Mr Brainwash" were real!!
Exit Through the Gift Shop: A Banksy Film is a Gonzo Documentary which tells the story of Thierry Guetta, a French immigrant in Los Angeles, and his obsession with street art. It is presented as a documentary, but reviewers have questioned its factuality. The film charts Guetta's constant documenting of his every moment on film, to his chance contact with his cousin, the artist Invader, and his documenting of a host of street artists with focus on Shepard Fairey, and also Banksy though the latter's face is never shown, and his voice is distorted to preserve his anonymity
This week’s National Enquirer has a story about the pitfalls of living large. Eddie Murphy’s ex wife Nicole is deep in debt after blowing the $15 million settlement she received from Eddie when they divorced in 2006. This sounds like those lottery winners that waste all their money and end up destitute. Here’s the Enquirer’s story, which includes details about Nicole’s bad investments and tax debts.
Eddie Murphy’s ex wife Nicole has blown her massive $15 million divorce settlement in just four years - and now she’s millions of dollars in debt.
What’s more, the IRS has slapped her with five tax liens totally $846,630, and she has put her opulent mansion up for sale.
When Nicole divorced Eddie in 2006 after 13 years of marriage, she chose to take a one-time payout from the comedian of $15 million, instead of monthly alimony. But in a shockingly short span of time, she’s managed to lose all of it.
“Nicole made some bad investments with the fortune she got from Eddie, and now she is in serious financial straits,” said a friend of the 42-year-old stunner.
Court records show that the IRS slapped Nicole with two liens for back taxes in November totaling $214,688.
That huge bill was on top of outstanding judgments against her for nearly $600,000 by a legal firm and another $60,000 demand for payment by a landscaping company. She also owes $5 million on her Los Angeles-area home.
“Nicole is overwhelmed by the mountain of debt she has piled up,” added the source. Nicole, who has five children with Eddie, invested in an Internet jewelry business, but the venture quickly failed and Nicole lost most of her money.”
[From The National Enquirer, print edition, January 3, 2011]
It seems like Eddie Murphy is the Enquirer’s gleeful source, as the article goes on about what a generous person he is and how he “lavishes the kids with gifts and gives them anything they want or need.” Nicole also gets child support payments which are surely enough for most of us to live very comfortably on. (Eddie pays $51,000 a month for just one child with Melanie B., Angel Iris, 3.) It’s not surprising to hear that a woman naive enough to marry Eddie Murphy would end up wasting her money and making bad investments. From the looks of her, Nicole’s plastic surgeon is getting
a good chunk of that money. This story reminds me of Heather Mills and how she frittered away her $50 million divorce settlement in less than two years.
In related debt news, Pamela Anderson owed an additional $180,000 to the state of California on top of the nearly $500,000 tax lien they filed against her last year. Her people told TMZ that it was a misunderstanding and that the taxes have been paid. Entitled rich people and their ridiculous problems.
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500 More Red-Winged Blackbirds Found Dead in Louisiana - AOL <b>News</b>
Days after 100000 fish and approximately 4000 red-winged blackbirds were found dead in Arkansas, 500 deceased blackbirds and starlings were discovered on a Louisiana highway.
Teenage Cheerleader Disappears in Small Texas Town - AOL <b>News</b>
Police in a small town in Texas are looking for a 13-year-old cheerleader missing for more than a week, but state officials say the case doesn't meet the criteria for an Amber Alert.
Climate <b>News</b> Snooze? - NYTimes.com
Coverage of human-driven climate change implodes. And so?
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