Hogarth says entertainment startups face powerful rights holders, and most creators depend on them for financial stability. He points to Universal Music Group's acquisition of EMI and Live Nation's merger with the world's largest ticket vendor as examples of growing consolidation. He advises startups to understand industry players' problems and find a reason for them to embrace the product.
Ian Hogarth
Speaker
Ian Hogarth, co-founder and CEO of Songkick, shares startup lessons at Y Combinator's Startup School.
Hogarth argues that consumer startups involve substantial randomness, so building one is not a reliable path to financial success. He says a strong builder might earn more by joining a successful company or spreading risk across multiple ventures. For him, the strongest reason to start is being deeply motivated to solve a specific problem.
Hogarth describes a startup's success in terms of user gratification, growth, and economics, with the team affecting all three. Songkick learned through user surveys that personalized concert alerts delighted some fans, but its signup process made that experience hard to reach. Improving access to listening data and the quality and completeness of concert listings helped build trust; partnerships, search, and mobile word of mouth then supported growth.
Hogarth recalls Songkick's bleak period in December 2010, when new features failed to improve usage and cash was limited. He says persistence can carry a company to a better market moment, pointing to the shift from desktop to mobile and its effect on Songkick, Shazam, and Pandora. He recommends writing down why the work matters, spending time with users, and building with trusted co-founders.
Takeaways
- In a consolidated industry, learn what incumbents need and seek alignment early.
- Make the product's core benefit easy for new users to reach.
- Treat reliable, complete data as part of the user experience when trust depends on it.
- Choose growth channels that fit the product and its economics.
- When progress stalls, revisit user feedback and the reason the problem matters.
Mentioned in this talk
Y Combinator
Pandora
SequoiaIndex Ventures
Spotify
Dropbox
DisqusJoltidSkype
Zillow
GoogleLive NationUniversal Music Group
YouTubeEMI
Apple Computer
Stripe
Airbnb
SoundCloud
MetaKazaaAdWords
iPhonemobileeconomic enginegratification enginegrowth engineDZ data curationSEOWord of mouthcanonical concert pageMichellePeteDrew HoustonArash Ferdowsi
Dalton CaldwellSean Parker
Paul Graham
Patrick CollisonMatt CohlerSha EllisAdoraSearch inside this talk
What was claimed 22
- metric
Songkick: Over 10 million unique fans visit every month“over 10 million unique fans visiting every month.”
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- ceo ofIan Hogarth CEO ofSongkickCEO
“He's the co-founder and CEO.”
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- invested inY Combinator invested in Songkickfunded
“Y Combinator funded Songkick in 2007.”
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- metricSongkick: Users who start using Songkick go to twice as many concerts afterward
“The average user who starts using Songkick goes to twice as many concerts afterward.”
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- invested in
“We're backed by some great VCs: Index and Sequoia.”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- invested inIndex Ventures invested inSongkick
“We're backed by some great VCs: Index and Sequoia.”
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- foundedIan Hogarth foundedSongkickco-founder
“I'm one of the three co-founders of Songkick.”
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- metricDropbox: Described as likely worth 100 times more than Songkick and Disqus
“Dropbox, which is likely worth 100 times more than both of us at this point.”
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- metricUniversal Music Group: Represents 40% of the rights in the recorded music market by value
“Universal Music Group now represents 40% of the rights in the recorded music market in terms of value.”
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- acquiredUniversal Music Group acquired EMI
“the world's largest record label was allowed to get even bigger by acquiring EMI.”
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- featureSpotify: Succeeded by working with rights holders in a consolidated music industry
“one of the main reasons for Spotify's success versus the nightmare Dalton went through.”
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- acquired
“Google saved YouTube from label annihilation.”
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- featureSongkick: Personalized concert alerts and show recommendations based on a fan’s music taste
“Our simple idea of personalized concert alerts and never missing a show was actually a very gratifying experience.”
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- integrates withpartnership
“We did partnerships with Spotify, SoundCloud, and YouTube.”
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- integrates withSongkick integrates with SoundCloudpartnership
“We did partnerships with Spotify, SoundCloud, and YouTube.”
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- integrates withpartnership
“We did partnerships with Spotify, SoundCloud, and YouTube.”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- metricSongkick: Reached a revenue run rate of millions of dollars through ticket affiliate deals
“it took us to a revenue run rate of millions of dollars.”
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- metricSongkick: In London, 25% of all concerts were available to buy tickets for through the app
“In London, we actually have 25% of all concerts available to buy tickets for through the Songkick app.”
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- metricSongkick: Appeared on every YouTube video page within a few years of launch
“We were on every single video page on YouTube within a few years of Songkick's life.”
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- metricSongkick: The bleakest period was around December 2010
“the bleakest point in Songkick's life was around December 2010.”
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- metricSongkick: Had 10 million people using the service
“Now we have 10 million people using us.”
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- metricPandora: Its growth doubled overnight after the iPhone launched, according to Hogarth
“the Pandora guys that the iPhone doubled their growth overnight.”
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