From P&G To Piano: Building A Music Education Startup With Quincy Jones - Young Upstarts

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by Chris Vance, Founder and CEO of Playground Periods

Nice companies usually begin with a easy statement. For me, it was standing in Goal, eyeing a Casio keyboard, and realizing that, regardless of all our technological advances, studying piano in 2009 nonetheless relied on conventional books and personal classes. Like 90% of people that try to be taught an instrument, I used to be most likely destined to fail.

That second turned the spark for what would ultimately change into Playground Periods, an organization I later constructed with legendary producer and musician Quincy Jones.

The Journey to Entrepreneurship My path to turning into a music training entrepreneur was removed from conventional. After beginning my profession at Goldman Sachs and later P&G, I moved to ZAG, the model incubator at BBH, a world promoting company that had simply launched Google Chrome. At ZAG, we centered on figuring out areas the place client curiosity outpaced model exercise. Knowledge revealed that whereas folks didn’t simply love music, they had been desperate to be taught and specific themselves by it. Concurrently, on-line platforms like YouTube had been exploding in recognition, signaling a shift in how folks consumed academic content material.

Having lately refreshed my Spanish utilizing Rosetta Stone, I had a firsthand understanding of how efficient digital studying platforms might be. The chance was clear: leverage fashionable digital instruments and top-tier instructors to make studying piano accessible to thousands and thousands.

When Quick Firm featured our story in an article titled Construct a Model from Scratch in 7 Steps, it caught the eye of Quincy Jones’s crew. Quincy, on the time, was in search of what he referred to as the “Rosetta Stone for music.” He was so intrigued by our idea of mixing know-how and gamification to show music that he turned a accomplice early on. His involvement introduced extra than simply star energy — it introduced knowledge.

Throughout a difficult interval, once I shared our struggles, Quincy reassured me with, “We’re on a mud street, however I dig a mud street!” He shared how producing Michael Jackson’s Thriller was fraught with challenges, but by relentless effort and grit, he turned it into the best-selling album of all time.

The Startup Actuality Beginning Playground Periods was like constructing a puzzle whereas concurrently inventing the items. From hiring the proper folks and elevating funds to refining our product, testing assumptions, and establishing distribution, day-after-day introduced new challenges. I went from main established corporations to being “the little man” attempting to orchestrate numerous transferring elements — most of which didn’t work as deliberate.

Our darkest second got here after we misplaced our head of know-how, Sean Thayne, who tragically died whereas heroically attempting to save lots of a mom and daughter from a swollen river. We had been at a breakout level, getting ready a number of language translations and launching an Android app. The thought crept in: “Possibly that is the tip for Playground Periods.”

However Sean’s ardour for our mission — to make use of know-how to convey happiness by music — gave us the power to maneuver ahead.

Flipping the Script on Music Schooling Our breakthrough got here from a elementary perception: as an alternative of educating folks to “be taught to play”, we wanted to assist them “play to be taught”. By gamifying the expertise and incorporating instantaneous suggestions, visible cues, and scoring, we made the method of play piano for novices each efficient and gratifying. Right this moment, Playground Periods averages over 10 million follow classes per thirty days, with greater than 3 billion notes performed.

This success has enabled us to forge exceptional partnerships. Harry Connick Jr. joined as a piano instructor and model ambassador, simplifying advanced ideas for learners. We partnered with Yamaha and Casio to increase distribution and constructed sturdy relationships with music publishers to license well-liked songs for our platform.

Key Classes for Entrepreneurs 1. Connect with a Larger Objective. Having a mission past revenue is significant for navigating powerful instances. For us, the enjoyment customers expertise as they grasp songs and specific themselves by music retains us going.

2. Construct for the Lengthy Time period. We delayed launching our cellular app by 24 months to good our training methodology on desktop first. This choice slowed development initially however created a scalable and sturdy platform. Prioritizing long-term success usually means making short-term sacrifices.

3. Put money into Core Expertise. Your early hires can outline your startup’s tradition and trajectory. Sean Thayne not solely excelled but in addition educated his successor, guaranteeing continuity. Rent individuals who share your ardour and align along with your mission.

4. Draw Inspiration Throughout Industries. Platforms like Rosetta Stone impressed us to interrupt music training into digestible, progressive steps. Cross-industry insights can spark modern approaches in your individual subject.

5. Forge Strategic Partnerships. Quincy Jones introduced emotional depth to our “play to be taught” technique, whereas Harry Connick Jr. made advanced musical ideas accessible. Strategic companions who align along with your mission can amplify your influence.

6. Give attention to Fixing the Core Downside. Our major aim was to make music training accessible and efficient. Each function, partnership, and choice revolved round this goal. Keep laser-focused in your core drawback at the same time as you scale.

7. Embrace Innovation with Objective. Know-how ought to serve your mission, not the opposite method round. Gamification and digital instruments weren’t nearly innovation — they made studying extra participating and efficient.

Wanting Forward As Quincy’s instructor Nadia Boulanger as soon as stated, “The music you play can by no means be kind of than you might be as a human being.”

That philosophy applies to constructing an organization — it could possibly solely be as sturdy, centered, and genuine because the folks behind it. The trail from company model administration to making a music training startup wasn’t apparent, nevertheless it proved that with the proper insights, a devoted crew, and a concentrate on fixing significant issues, you may construct one thing impactful — even in industries you by no means anticipated.

[Main photo credit: Depositphotos.com]

Chris Vance is the Founder and CEO of Playground Periods, a piano studying app co-created with Quincy Jones. It presents an modern method to music training, delivering a enjoyable and efficient approach to be taught piano on-line . Chris is enthusiastic about making music training accessible and empowering academics with instruments to maintain their college students engaged and working towards independently.

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From P&G To Piano: Building A Music Education Startup With Quincy Jones – Young Upstarts

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Emma Navarro keeps her eye on the ball at the Australian Open as tennis limelight shines brighter

Southern California in 'uncharted territory' as fire weather returns all next week

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