Spencer Rascoff

I was always interested in entrepreneurship and business. I was the kid that would bake cookies and sell them on my street, that would get tracing paper and trace artwork because I wasn't a good artist, but I could trace things and sell those tracings to my parents' friends. So I was always hustling and trying to create businesses and make money. And I saw a lot of entrepreneurship all around me.

My grandfather was a really successful entrepreneur in the apparel space. He had started a clothing company. My dad was a very successful entrepreneur. He started out as an accountant, and then he became, through a lot of hard work and also some good luck, ended up starting a business management company and tour production company that...

My grandfather was a really successful entrepreneur in the apparel space. He had started a clothing company. My dad was a very successful entrepreneur. He started out as an accountant, and then he became, through a lot of hard work and also some good luck, ended up starting a business management company and tour production company that...

had clients like the Rolling Stones and U2, David Bowie, Paul Simon, Pink Floyd, Leonard Skinner, and many, many others. And so I watched him pivot his career many times as the technologies of the music industry changed. So when platforms shifted from eight tracks to, I guess, records to eight tracks to tapes to CDs to streaming that had profound implications on how his business had to evolve.

had clients like the Rolling Stones and U2, David Bowie, Paul Simon, Pink Floyd, Leonard Skinner, and many, many others. And so I watched him pivot his career many times as the technologies of the music industry changed. So when platforms shifted from eight tracks to, I guess, records to eight tracks to tapes to CDs to streaming that had profound implications on how his business had to evolve.

As the concert industry changed, he moved more into touring and helped pioneer many aspects of the touring industry that we take for granted today, like the 360 tours where producers and promoters buy tours outright from the acts and flip the story on who works for whom and sell broad sponsorships for these international tours, et cetera.

As the concert industry changed, he moved more into touring and helped pioneer many aspects of the touring industry that we take for granted today, like the 360 tours where producers and promoters buy tours outright from the acts and flip the story on who works for whom and sell broad sponsorships for these international tours, et cetera.

So as a kid, I watched a lot of entrepreneurship and that was inspiring to me and helped encourage me and my path to entrepreneurship.

So as a kid, I watched a lot of entrepreneurship and that was inspiring to me and helped encourage me and my path to entrepreneurship.

I've always worked hard. I worked hard when I was a kid. One of my most formative experiences early on was playing chess. And I was basically, well, not quite a professional chess player, but I was a very competitive, serious chess player as a kid, I think, at college. Age 12, I was the fourth best chess player in the country.

I've always worked hard. I worked hard when I was a kid. One of my most formative experiences early on was playing chess. And I was basically, well, not quite a professional chess player, but I was a very competitive, serious chess player as a kid, I think, at college. Age 12, I was the fourth best chess player in the country.

I was the captain of our chess team that won middle school championships and we're basically the best middle school chess team in the country. Basically, every weekend I was playing chess tournaments around the country. And... You learn a lot from chess as a kid.

I was the captain of our chess team that won middle school championships and we're basically the best middle school chess team in the country. Basically, every weekend I was playing chess tournaments around the country. And... You learn a lot from chess as a kid.

You learn about the importance of hard work and preparation, of concentration, of just mental focus and mental agility, and ultimately the importance of hard work. So that was my sport, if you will. We can debate whether chess is a sport or not, but to me at the time, it was a sport and I treated it as such. And then through high school and then beyond, I've always been hardworking.

You learn about the importance of hard work and preparation, of concentration, of just mental focus and mental agility, and ultimately the importance of hard work. So that was my sport, if you will. We can debate whether chess is a sport or not, but to me at the time, it was a sport and I treated it as such. And then through high school and then beyond, I've always been hardworking.

I'm not sure if I got that from my parents or just from intrinsic motivation, but that's always been a personality trait.

I'm not sure if I got that from my parents or just from intrinsic motivation, but that's always been a personality trait.

Yes, that's my thing. My main high school activities were I gave up chess by high school and I was what was called first prefect, which was basically the president of the school and editor in chief of the high school paper. And high school journalism was also a very formative experience for me. I learned a lot.

Yes, that's my thing. My main high school activities were I gave up chess by high school and I was what was called first prefect, which was basically the president of the school and editor in chief of the high school paper. And high school journalism was also a very formative experience for me. I learned a lot.

about management, leadership, journalism, attention to detail, time management, working under pressure. These are all things that you learn when you're running what is basically a professional level newspaper, which my high school paper was.