“Had a couple of meetings no offers yet,
Maybe I aint good enough for these offices,
Back to the drawing board ducking officers,
It’s all good cos the streets is A&R’ing this”
These are the first four lines to the final verse of So ambitious a track with a guest appearance by Pharell on Jay-Z’s most recent album The Blueprint III.
The song chronicles Jay-Z’s struggles to get a record deal and make the transition from drug dealer to artist early in his career. These four lines in particular speak to a couple things that are so important in entrepreneurship: Perseverance and drawing from what you know.
Had a couple of meetings no offers yet,
No. The word every entrepreneur is bound to hear over and over again as she pitches her idea to investors, customers, employees and even more demoralizing family and friends.
Maybe I aint good enough for these offices
Its no surprise that many would be start-up CEOs grow despondent when doors seem to be closing in every direction all around them. Often, the goal seems unattainable.
Back to the drawing board ducking officers
So, most would be entrepreneurs aren’t crack dealers, and they don’t literally have to hide from the police. but either way, often hearing no means going back to re-calibrate your business plan, talk to some more customers about what you should be doing and maybe even earning a salary for a while. But, that’s ok because…
It’s all good cos the streets is A&R’ing this
An A&R is a record label employee that funds and markets an artist. In Jay-Z’s metaphor, its his experience on the streets that fund his recording artist ambitions and provide the content for his rhymes that he speaks so passionately about. As an entrepreneur, your experience -again – probably doesn’t have anything to do with selling narcotics, but does provide the professional and personal background for your venture. And if that background is solid, rejection and having to go back to the drawing board is all good… you’ll get there eventually
So, what would Jay-Z do? he perservere, that’s what!
Filed under: What would Jay-Z do? | Tagged: venture capital
