Building a business from one person to twenty people was hard. Selling that business while in law school was even harder. Running the business after it was sold to a publicly-held company has been fun, even if it is a challenge as I work toward my degree in Temple Law’s evening division.
I started Fame House (now a subsidiary of SFX Entertainment—NASDAQ:SFXE) because I saw a market opportunity. I started off working for the legendary DJ Shadow, where I made a name for myself in the music technology world by working with him to build a sizable digital presence. I helped to monetize that presence through an innovative artist web store that licensed digital music content back from Shadow’s major label, to enable him to sell the content directly to the consumer (in essence giving him the ability to circumvent iTunes on certain releases). The deal we put together for that store gave me the law school itch; but it also brought me the attention that enabled me to start Fame House.
After working for DJ Shadow for about four years, I began studying for the LSAT, and was convinced that I was going to take a break from music for at least three years to go to law school. Before then, though, something clicked: I decided to start Fame House as a reaction to demand for digital strategy and marketing specific to music. I got my LSAT scores back and decided to do both: part-time law student and full-time entrepreneur starting a new business.
Fame House grew as I did the daytime work grind and the evening law school grind. Some great hires, luck, and adaptability enabled Fame House to explode. Landing Pretty Lights as a client led to Ultra Music, which led to Tiesto and Richie Hawtin, and it went on from there. A meeting with Eminem’s manager led to his label, and then to Eminem. All of a sudden, I was selling my company to Bob Sillerman, founder of SFX, a major force in electronic music. I truly feel like I was called up to the big leagues (I believe the people I work with at SFX and some of our clients are the smartest people around).
Through all of this, I was using what I learned in law school. I rewrote my client contracts to become more mutually protective, while covering my needs; I scrutinized the acquisition deal points and played an active role in every aspect of the negotiation; and I have read every line of every contract I have signed (and negotiated as many points as possible!) since my first year of law school. The acquisition process was an intense learning experience. I worked alongside a Temple Law grad, Mark Dugan LAW ’07, who was my lawyer for the deal. I am a much better entrepreneur than a lawyer, but I am a much better entrepreneur because of two years of law school. I think that came through in the acquisition process.
Building and selling a business was the most rewarding thing I ever have been through professionally, and I am not sure I could have reached this point, or handled the process as well, without my legal knowledge from Temple.
I could hear the rules and lessons from Contracts (Professor Harvey), Corporations (Professor Hoffman), and Intellectual Property (Professor Post), as I read each line of the company purchase agreement. The knowledge of the potential outcomes in various circumstances, and how to identify and address issues, negotiate amicably, and work towards mutually beneficial solutions has been invaluable.
There is a tough journey ahead for building Fame House, now as a wholly-owned subsidiary of SFX, while continuing to work towards a law degree. But I can’t wait to see how it all plays out.