A rapper’s guide to entrepreneurship
It’s not too far from the streets to the garages. Rap is a very in-your-face music genre, used by many to share hard-hitting truths. Entrepeneurship is equally explicit. It takes no prisoners, rapidly separating the winning endeavours from the also-rans.
I’m no Dr. Dre (even if some friends call be “Dr. K”…), but I do enjoy learning from hiphop-preneurs. The beauty is: their lectures are punchy and poetic! Readily spit out for millions to download and assimilate.
Let me give you my 50 cents of 6 entrepreneurial rhymes.
1. Dominate your niche
“Knowing as a shorty, I was always told
That if I ain’t gon’ be part of the greatest
I gotta be the greatest myself”
Busta Rhymes, Gimme some more
Net worth estimate: $70m
This creed defines the essence of entrepreneurship. You don’t join the titans of your industry, but become a challenger, seeking to dominate your niche.
2. Work with Passion
“You better loose yourself in the moment, you want it, you better never let it go”
Eminem, Loose yourself.
Net worth estimate*: $230m
Great words of advice for any budding entrepreneur, be they in product design stage or about to deliver a killer fundraising pitch. Entrepreneurship requires passion. You have to dedicate yourself fully, knowing that if it was easy, then everyone would be doing it.
3. Wash, rinse and repeat
“I knew that maybe someday I would understand
Trying to turn a tenner to a hundred grand
Everyone’s a kid that no-one cares about
You just have to keep screaming ’til they hear you out”
Tinie Tempah, Written in the Stars
Net worth estimate: $3.5m
Don’t stop screaming! And if your pitch isn’t being heard, return to the drawing board. Dozens of times if required, wash-rinse-repeating your approach. Persevering until the customer and the market does hear you out!
4. Harness your brand
“L-U-P the man, ’cause a brand that the fans trust
So even if they ban us
They’ll never slow my plans up!”
Lupe Fiasco, The Show goes On
Net worth estimate: $15m
One of your biggest assets is your brand. What does your company represent in the minds of your customers and employees? Are they true fans, do they trust your firm?
5. Blood and sweat
“Those were the days
Hard work forever pays
Now I see you in a better place”
Whiz Kalifa, See you again (with Charlie Puth)
Estimated net worth: $65m
Blood and sweat will take you further. Founders know that that extra phone call or product tweak can be their ticket to success. They don’t believe in the tooth fairy nor in the “over night success” story.
6. Follow that dream
“On m’a dit, on m’a dit petit, réveille-toi t’es un peu trop rêveur
(…) Aucune de leurs dissuasions m’a mis le genou à terre
Aucun médecin au monde ne pouvait soigner ma fièvre”
English Translation:
“They told me, they told me child, wake up you’re a little too much of a dreamer
None of their dissuasions made me kneel down
No medicine in the world could cure my fever”
Soprano, Mon Everest (with Marina Keye)
Estimated net worth: N/A
Successful founders dream big. They dare to imagine a different world, positively impacted by their product or service. And that fantasising is feverish, not “curable” by naysayers.
There are countless more rappreneurs. Listen, implement and their rhymes may help you get that bling-bling.
Source of estimated net worth is TheNetWorthPortal