Good Morning Everyone,

As you all know I will be transitioning out of my day to day role on Wednesday. I’ll be taking a quick break for the month of September before returning to advise Venice through the end of the year.

Transitions offer us moments of reflection. As I reflect, I’m filled with immense gratitude. Over the past 3 years we have worked every day to fulfill our mission. To empower a community of independent artists to thrive in their career and live off their art. We have worked with hundreds of partners who have amassed billions of streams using our products and services.

Our community is full of entrepreneurs who finally feel they have a home. Where their voices are heard and their music is given the respect it deserves. I’m most proud of the DMs and public messages we have received from artists and managers who feel supported by our efforts. As Venice moves into its next season as a company I am excited to see you all double down on fulfilling our mission through continued focus on providing best in class tools, services, and knowledge for our partners.

Over the past few weeks I’ve spoken with many of you about the lessons I’ve learned in my time at Venice. My time across Operations, Product, and Web3 has afforded me the opportunity to see our company from many angles through countless evolutions. With the hopes some of these learnings may be of value to you all on your own journeys I’ve put together a SportsCenter Top 10 list of lessons learned at Venice Music.

So grab a coffee and get your popcorn ready. In the immortal words of Stuart Scott, “like gravy on a biscuit, it’s all good”!

No task is too small. The most important thing you can do as a teammate is leave your ego at the door. Many of us came from bigger companies with more resources. Actions we were used to delegating now fall upon us. At a startup the buck always stops with you. Many things may fall into the category of "that's not my job" but as someone with a vested interest in the success of this company it certainly is your job.

Trust is the foundation of any relationship, it’s the glue that holds everything together. Truthfully, trust is also one of the hardest things to build in a remote environment. Yes, executing on your deliverables builds trust. But, what we really want to "trust" is the person on the other side of the computer cares about me and my well being.

That is incredibly challenging to develop when our only time together is spent discussing work on conference calls. Trust is built during midday coffee runs, happy hours, and catching a show together. It's built during offsites over one too many pours of good tequila. Trust is what you get when you let someone see the real you. When you feel psychological safety.

Trust can not be manufactured. Take the time to really get to know your teammates. Their hopes and fears. Their ambitions and pressure points. The effort you invest in understanding your teammates will pay dividends in the fulfilled work you will do together.

This may seem counter to lesson #1 (pick up the trash) but there is a difference between completing a required menial task and saying yes to everything. Time is our most valuable asset. Both as a company and as individuals. Our responsibility is to maximize that time by being intentional with what we choose to work on.

As a company we could be working on countless initiatives. Saying yes to all of them would be counterproductive. With resources spread too thin we would deliver a sub par product. I have always prescribed to the belief that I would rather do a few things well than a lot of things average. To me, there is no worse feeling than delivering something sub standard because you did not have the bandwidth to dedicate to it.

That is why before embarking on an initiative or joining a meeting I ask myself the following questions:

1. Is a decision being made?

2. Am I an active participant?

3. Does this help us accomplish our company goals?

If I answer “no” to any of those questions I look to receive an update asynchronously via email, slack, or slide deck.

When I first joined Venice in 2019, you could fit the entire company in our tiny fishbowl room in the Culver City office. With a small team our culture was evenly distributed. Meaning there was almost no distance between leadership direction and actions taken by the team. Discussions on mission, vision, and values were not so much explicitly driven as implicitly felt through interactions across the company.

It's easy to disseminate culture like this when you see your teammates in person every day; however, as companies grow larger and leadership becomes more remote (out of necessity), it becomes harder for actions to inform culture in the same way.

Documentation becomes a necessity as the distance between leadership and the rest of the company grows. It serves as their voice in the room. An ever present north star about why we are doing this and how we plan to get there.

If this documentation does not exist or is not clear enough for all employees to understand how they fit into the bigger picture then how can leaders inspire? How can they communicate company values? And how can they help create an environment where people feel supported while also being challenged?

I want to commend the monumental effort undertaken across the company to memorialize our mission, vision, values, and goals. These initiatives take time but create strategic alignment. When we all know where to go we can get there together.

By far the biggest lesson I learned here was 99% of issues in a company stem from poor communication. In an environment where you are trying to get things done quickly, this can be even more pronounced, so it's important to balance the urge to move quickly with the need for alignment and clarity on responsibilities and goals.

A few ways we did this:

1. Documentation: In addition to documenting culture (Lesson #4) we also document responsibilities and goals (via OKRs). This brings clarity about who does what, when it needs to happen, what support is needed from others, etc. This helps everyone stay focused on their work and makes sure no one feels like they're being left out or forgotten about by another team member. It also prevents people from feeling like they're stuck doing all of the heavy lifting by themselves—which can lead to burnout and resentment.

2. Avoiding Siloed Conversations: Ensuring the appropriate stakeholders are in the room and on the same page. While it can feel like extra drag when trying to move quickly, it’s critical everyone is on the same page.

3. Radical Candor: This can only exist when we care personally about our teammates and our comfortable challenging them directly. Speaking freely avoids miscommunication or harboring of ill will.

4. Regular Team Check-Ins: Particularly since moving fully remote it’s imperative we have check-ins at every level of the organization. People need to feel heard and kept up to date with the progress of the company.

Early in my time at Venice, Troy asked me if I had read Reed Hastings Culture Deck. I had not and spent the next morning at breakfast with my laptop open scouring the slides of the famous Netflix CEO. One of the key concepts that has stayed with me since that morning was companies are made of all-stars, not families. You do not get to pick your family. You do get to pick your team.

All-star teams change every year. Who was considered at the top of their game one year may be down on their luck the next. What's consistent is the ambition to field the best possible team to maximize our chances at success. Like all-stars we should see our weaknesses as opportunities to get better. We should relish review cycles and feedback to focus our attention on where to take action.

A few of you have heard me speak about Harley Finkelstein, President of Shopify. Harley was on the Tim Ferriss podcast a few years ago where he discussed how employees at the company reapplied for their positions every year. Faced with ever evolving responsibilities they asked themselves if they were still the best fit for the role. If yes, they continued as normal. If the answer was no, they put together a plan for how to change that response to a yes. From external resources (coaching, seminars, headcount) to internal development (attention, communication, commitment) we must be honest with ourselves about where we sit in an ever evolving company. Do not be afraid to ask for help and put yourself in the best possible position to be an all-star.

There is a lot we can learn from each other and the events that happen to us. As you listen to the stories of those around you, consider how they might help you navigate your own path in life—and vice versa. In this way, we are all students of one another’s experience. It is easy to be critical; it is hard to delay your intuition and think through someone else's perspective before responding. Trust that most people are trying their best—on a daily basis—and trust that we all have something valuable to offer each other if only we would stop for a moment and listen with an open mind.

I have often discussed employee acumen as a pyramid.

At the bottom of the pyramid are tacticians. These are employees who need the problem space defined, the strategy developed, and the action plan put in place. This is typical for employees who are junior in their career just coming out of college or learning a new skill.

In the middle of the pyramid are strategists. These employees need the problem space defined but are capable of developing a strategy and executing an action plan. A majority of individuals fall in this middle band.

Lastly, the top of the pyramid are architects. They proactively identify problem spaces. To use an Amazon term, these employees know what dogs are not barking. In other words, what issues are likely to arise that we are not seeing today. Very few teammates get to the top of the pyramid.

You can become an architect by creating leverage across the organization. Identifying opportunities and actioning them without a large amount of guidance gives time back to your managers and teammates. Every time we create leverage in the organization we become more efficient as a company. This in turn means we are able to increase the total output and achieve our goals faster.

We have probably used this phrase so much internally that it has become an idiom but it still rings true. We all come from different backgrounds and bring with us various perspectives. What may seem an obvious truth to us in the moment is revealed to be incorrect when more information is presented.

This is normal.

We must both respectfully defend our positions and be open to others. Collectively, as species we have a tendency to overestimate our likelihood of being “right” in a given situation. We are operating on limited data from our limited perspective. In this sense our teammates can help us complete the puzzle when making a decision.

Follow your curiosity wherever it may lead you. In Steve Jobs Stanford commencement speech he opined that we only ever know how the stars connect looking backwards. We must trust that they will connect.

I joined Venice Music because I wanted broad exposure to the music industry. I wanted to understand the inner workings of a music technology company from the ground up. I wanted to get closer to artists and their teams. To help bring their ideas to life.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think what would start as a music operations role would turn into an opportunity to lead building a distribution product with some of the brightest engineers and designers as a first time product lead. I also did not expect to then uproot from product to build a team and bring Venice into Web3 with the Venice Music Collective.

I would be lying if I said I knew this would be my path. Who could possibly know? But looking back the through-line has become clear. I love bringing ideas from 0 to 1. I'm at my most curious when the solutions are at their most ambiguous. The audacity to create something from nothing. In a world where everything reverts to the mean, how do we create something extraordinary?

We do it by staying curious. Approaching the world with a beginner’s mind. Filled with wonder and a questioning spirit. There is always something to learn. Some topic to explore. We put ourselves in the best position to succeed when we genuinely are curious and enjoy the work we do.

I can not thank you all enough for the past 3 years. To Troy and Suzy, you saw potential in me greater than I could have imagined. You invested in my development and stuck with me through the good and the bad. As an only child I've come to look upon both of you as my big brother and sister. I am grateful for your guidance and look forward to your continued mentorship in the years to come.

To my teammates, you are the fuel which kept me going. Trust that I woke up each and every day hoping to make you all proud. I never took for granted the enormous privilege and responsibility of my position in the company. I did my best to use the pressure I felt from this responsibility as a tailwind. Sometimes it got the best of me and yet you all were there to always support and encourage.

I’m beyond excited to advise the company as it enters another formative season. The pieces are in place for you all to carry out the Venice mission, to empower a community of independent artists to live and thrive off their art. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

See you soon,

austin

Good Morning Everyone,

As you all know I will be transitioning out of my day to day role on Wednesday. I’ll be taking a quick break for the month of September before returning to advise Venice through the end of the year.

Transitions offer us moments of reflection. As I reflect, I’m filled with immense gratitude. Over the past 3 years we have worked every day to fulfill our mission. To empower a community of independent artists to thrive in their career and live off their art. We have worked with hundreds of partners who have amassed billions of streams using our products and services.

Our community is full of entrepreneurs who finally feel they have a home. Where their voices are heard and their music is given the respect it deserves. I’m most proud of the DMs and public messages we have received from artists and managers who feel supported by our efforts. As Venice moves into its next season as a company I am excited to see you all double down on fulfilling our mission through continued focus on providing best in class tools, services, and knowledge for our partners.

Over the past few weeks I’ve spoken with many of you about the lessons I’ve learned in my time at Venice. My time across Operations, Product, and Web3 has afforded me the opportunity to see our company from many angles through countless evolutions. With the hopes some of these learnings may be of value to you all on your own journeys I’ve put together a SportsCenter Top 10 list of lessons learned at Venice Music.

So grab a coffee and get your popcorn ready. In the immortal words of Stuart Scott, “like gravy on a biscuit, it’s all good”!

No task is too small. The most important thing you can do as a teammate is leave your ego at the door. Many of us came from bigger companies with more resources. Actions we were used to delegating now fall upon us. At a startup the buck always stops with you. Many things may fall into the category of "that's not my job" but as someone with a vested interest in the success of this company it certainly is your job.

Trust is the foundation of any relationship, it’s the glue that holds everything together. Truthfully, trust is also one of the hardest things to build in a remote environment. Yes, executing on your deliverables builds trust. But, what we really want to "trust" is the person on the other side of the computer cares about me and my well being.

That is incredibly challenging to develop when our only time together is spent discussing work on conference calls. Trust is built during midday coffee runs, happy hours, and catching a show together. It's built during offsites over one too many pours of good tequila. Trust is what you get when you let someone see the real you. When you feel psychological safety.

Trust can not be manufactured. Take the time to really get to know your teammates. Their hopes and fears. Their ambitions and pressure points. The effort you invest in understanding your teammates will pay dividends in the fulfilled work you will do together.

This may seem counter to lesson #1 (pick up the trash) but there is a difference between completing a required menial task and saying yes to everything. Time is our most valuable asset. Both as a company and as individuals. Our responsibility is to maximize that time by being intentional with what we choose to work on.

As a company we could be working on countless initiatives. Saying yes to all of them would be counterproductive. With resources spread too thin we would deliver a sub par product. I have always prescribed to the belief that I would rather do a few things well than a lot of things average. To me, there is no worse feeling than delivering something sub standard because you did not have the bandwidth to dedicate to it.

That is why before embarking on an initiative or joining a meeting I ask myself the following questions:

1. Is a decision being made?

2. Am I an active participant?

3. Does this help us accomplish our company goals?

If I answer “no” to any of those questions I look to receive an update asynchronously via email, slack, or slide deck.

When I first joined Venice in 2019, you could fit the entire company in our tiny fishbowl room in the Culver City office. With a small team our culture was evenly distributed. Meaning there was almost no distance between leadership direction and actions taken by the team. Discussions on mission, vision, and values were not so much explicitly driven as implicitly felt through interactions across the company.

It's easy to disseminate culture like this when you see your teammates in person every day; however, as companies grow larger and leadership becomes more remote (out of necessity), it becomes harder for actions to inform culture in the same way.

Documentation becomes a necessity as the distance between leadership and the rest of the company grows. It serves as their voice in the room. An ever present north star about why we are doing this and how we plan to get there.

If this documentation does not exist or is not clear enough for all employees to understand how they fit into the bigger picture then how can leaders inspire? How can they communicate company values? And how can they help create an environment where people feel supported while also being challenged?

I want to commend the monumental effort undertaken across the company to memorialize our mission, vision, values, and goals. These initiatives take time but create strategic alignment. When we all know where to go we can get there together.

By far the biggest lesson I learned here was 99% of issues in a company stem from poor communication. In an environment where you are trying to get things done quickly, this can be even more pronounced, so it's important to balance the urge to move quickly with the need for alignment and clarity on responsibilities and goals.

A few ways we did this:

1. Documentation: In addition to documenting culture (Lesson #4) we also document responsibilities and goals (via OKRs). This brings clarity about who does what, when it needs to happen, what support is needed from others, etc. This helps everyone stay focused on their work and makes sure no one feels like they're being left out or forgotten about by another team member. It also prevents people from feeling like they're stuck doing all of the heavy lifting by themselves—which can lead to burnout and resentment.

2. Avoiding Siloed Conversations: Ensuring the appropriate stakeholders are in the room and on the same page. While it can feel like extra drag when trying to move quickly, it’s critical everyone is on the same page.

3. Radical Candor: This can only exist when we care personally about our teammates and our comfortable challenging them directly. Speaking freely avoids miscommunication or harboring of ill will.

4. Regular Team Check-Ins: Particularly since moving fully remote it’s imperative we have check-ins at every level of the organization. People need to feel heard and kept up to date with the progress of the company.

Early in my time at Venice, Troy asked me if I had read Reed Hastings Culture Deck. I had not and spent the next morning at breakfast with my laptop open scouring the slides of the famous Netflix CEO. One of the key concepts that has stayed with me since that morning was companies are made of all-stars, not families. You do not get to pick your family. You do get to pick your team.

All-star teams change every year. Who was considered at the top of their game one year may be down on their luck the next. What's consistent is the ambition to field the best possible team to maximize our chances at success. Like all-stars we should see our weaknesses as opportunities to get better. We should relish review cycles and feedback to focus our attention on where to take action.

A few of you have heard me speak about Harley Finkelstein, President of Shopify. Harley was on the Tim Ferriss podcast a few years ago where he discussed how employees at the company reapplied for their positions every year. Faced with ever evolving responsibilities they asked themselves if they were still the best fit for the role. If yes, they continued as normal. If the answer was no, they put together a plan for how to change that response to a yes. From external resources (coaching, seminars, headcount) to internal development (attention, communication, commitment) we must be honest with ourselves about where we sit in an ever evolving company. Do not be afraid to ask for help and put yourself in the best possible position to be an all-star.

There is a lot we can learn from each other and the events that happen to us. As you listen to the stories of those around you, consider how they might help you navigate your own path in life—and vice versa. In this way, we are all students of one another’s experience. It is easy to be critical; it is hard to delay your intuition and think through someone else's perspective before responding. Trust that most people are trying their best—on a daily basis—and trust that we all have something valuable to offer each other if only we would stop for a moment and listen with an open mind.

I have often discussed employee acumen as a pyramid.

At the bottom of the pyramid are tacticians. These are employees who need the problem space defined, the strategy developed, and the action plan put in place. This is typical for employees who are junior in their career just coming out of college or learning a new skill.

In the middle of the pyramid are strategists. These employees need the problem space defined but are capable of developing a strategy and executing an action plan. A majority of individuals fall in this middle band.

Lastly, the top of the pyramid are architects. They proactively identify problem spaces. To use an Amazon term, these employees know what dogs are not barking. In other words, what issues are likely to arise that we are not seeing today. Very few teammates get to the top of the pyramid.

You can become an architect by creating leverage across the organization. Identifying opportunities and actioning them without a large amount of guidance gives time back to your managers and teammates. Every time we create leverage in the organization we become more efficient as a company. This in turn means we are able to increase the total output and achieve our goals faster.

We have probably used this phrase so much internally that it has become an idiom but it still rings true. We all come from different backgrounds and bring with us various perspectives. What may seem an obvious truth to us in the moment is revealed to be incorrect when more information is presented.

This is normal.

We must both respectfully defend our positions and be open to others. Collectively, as species we have a tendency to overestimate our likelihood of being “right” in a given situation. We are operating on limited data from our limited perspective. In this sense our teammates can help us complete the puzzle when making a decision.

Follow your curiosity wherever it may lead you. In Steve Jobs Stanford commencement speech he opined that we only ever know how the stars connect looking backwards. We must trust that they will connect.

I joined Venice Music because I wanted broad exposure to the music industry. I wanted to understand the inner workings of a music technology company from the ground up. I wanted to get closer to artists and their teams. To help bring their ideas to life.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think what would start as a music operations role would turn into an opportunity to lead building a distribution product with some of the brightest engineers and designers as a first time product lead. I also did not expect to then uproot from product to build a team and bring Venice into Web3 with the Venice Music Collective.

I would be lying if I said I knew this would be my path. Who could possibly know? But looking back the through-line has become clear. I love bringing ideas from 0 to 1. I'm at my most curious when the solutions are at their most ambiguous. The audacity to create something from nothing. In a world where everything reverts to the mean, how do we create something extraordinary?

We do it by staying curious. Approaching the world with a beginner’s mind. Filled with wonder and a questioning spirit. There is always something to learn. Some topic to explore. We put ourselves in the best position to succeed when we genuinely are curious and enjoy the work we do.

I can not thank you all enough for the past 3 years. To Troy and Suzy, you saw potential in me greater than I could have imagined. You invested in my development and stuck with me through the good and the bad. As an only child I've come to look upon both of you as my big brother and sister. I am grateful for your guidance and look forward to your continued mentorship in the years to come.

To my teammates, you are the fuel which kept me going. Trust that I woke up each and every day hoping to make you all proud. I never took for granted the enormous privilege and responsibility of my position in the company. I did my best to use the pressure I felt from this responsibility as a tailwind. Sometimes it got the best of me and yet you all were there to always support and encourage.

I’m beyond excited to advise the company as it enters another formative season. The pieces are in place for you all to carry out the Venice mission, to empower a community of independent artists to live and thrive off their art. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

See you soon,

austin