Stellwagen Ventures: Then, Now & in the Future.
Stellwagen Ventures turns two years old today and I thought to share some perspective on our journey to date — the ups, the downs, the perseverance, resilience, and everything else that comes with taking that aspirational leap of faith in starting your own business. Although I could sit here and paint that perfect picture I want you to see, my main objective is to provide a key takeaway or two that sticks with you.
First, it goes without saying, time flies. With things moving at the speed of light, it’s important to stop, pause and reflect on the wins, the big ones, and the small ones. One significant win for us I wanted to point out is how our model has evolved over time. Being flexible and nimble allowed us to take advantage of white-hot markets that felt like natural progressions, not knee-jerk pivots. We’ve slowly and methodically landed on five pillars of focus — music and sport growth equity opportunities, helping early-stage music and sport tech companies raise capital, matching artists and pro athletes with brand opportunities and finally, web3 — yes, we also co-founded our own blockchain business during these two short years.
To date, Stellwagen Ventures has represented $1B+ USD in music rights and catalog deals. We’ve been fortunate to work with some of the biggest and most decorated artists as well as the world’s top producers. What an honor to work with some of our own hero’s — iconic artists we grew up listening to. Just yesterday, I had a call with one of my all-time favorites. In short, ‘work’ has become a labor of love. What a blessing.
Matthew Baxter and I are fortunate to have landed in a fair, honest, and equitable business partnership, formed on two different continents, that works — and works well. Stellwagen was built on trust, respect, insane effort, and discipline. Without these attributes, we are nowhere and likely, out of business. I feel like all the above give us a massive edge at work — we must be more disciplined and self-demanding than others — after all, there’s no easy way to be great.
Creating a business model that works is hard. Executing is harder. Staying the course and focusing has kept us alive and thriving. Our support system, especially on the home front (thank you Kiki & Louise!), has allowed us to enter year three feeling bullish and most of all confident. When you find a model that works, smash the door down and take every, single, opportunity that’s put in front of you. Operate with a sense of urgency, always. If you do, even the likes of The Wall Street Journal will take notice… Stellwagen Ventures was featured there not once, but twice since inception — again small victories that all add up.
We have big plans ahead — more evolutions, not revolutions, and I can’t wait. There continues to be plenty of distractions out there to deter you/us from hitting our marks and fulfilling our dreams. Not even a global pandemic, a tumultuous economy, and everything else happening in this crazy world can stop us from fulfilling our dreams.
Thanks Matthew Baxter and George Burgess for the most gratifying two years of my decades old career — this just might have topped me going to Kid Rock’s house in Michigan to present a music-based video game to him a few years back…!
#ONWARD
