Music Concerts: An Unexpected Setting to See Startup/Product Ideas in Action

Wasn’t expecting this, but one of the clearest settings to see startup/product ideas in action (execution is a multiplier on idea, focus on one core thing, complexity is the enemy, lean into your advantages, etc.) is a music concert.

I went to see Keane last weekend and the difference between the amateur opening act vs the pro band came down to these same principles.

The amateurs were clearly talented, but their songs had so much complexity, so many complicated patterns competing for attention, that it was often hard to follow the direction of the music, and they didn’t even have enough mental bandwidth for things like stage presence (presumably because they were spending all their energy grappling with the complexity of their own music).

The pros had a smaller number of patterns going on in their music, and the patterns themselves were less complicated – but every one of those patterns played a crucial role in the song, and they were intertwined in perfectly complementary ways. All the patterns were pointing in the same direction, making the music easy to follow, and each performer had enough mental bandwidth left over to add some flair and engage with the audience.

Additionally, while the amateurs had quite a few musical strengths, they also had quite a few relative weaknesses, and their songs leaned into areas of weakness just as much as areas of strength. The pros, on the other hand… I wouldn’t know what relative weaknesses they have, because their music was so centered around their strengths!