Living phone-free in Silicon Valley and the future of music tech with Justin Kan and Ranidu
January 02, 2019 02:00
00:00 / 37:02
8 plays
On this episode I'm visiting Atrium's headquarters in SoMA in San Francisco to
chat with two serial entrepreneurs, Justin Kan and Ranidu. Justin Kan's career
blew up in the mid-2000s when he started livestreaming himself 24/7 on
Justin.tv, a Y Combinator backed startup that he co-founded. Justin.tv
eventually turned into Twitch and sold to Amazon for nearly a billion dollars.
He has gone on to found multiple startups since then, including Exec, Whale,
and now Atrium. Ranidu has a unique background. Before jumping into tech, he
rose to fame as an R&B and hip-hop artist . He went on to join Google before
founding the first of many startups, many of which have been centered around
his passion for music. We talk about a few of them including The Drop, The
Artist Union, and Audius, a decentralized audio distribution platform he
started earlier this year. In this episode we talk about: What they've learned
from building products and startups, what lessons they would give to
entrepreneurs starting out today, and how the startup and investing landscape
has changed. Justin explains why he says that 2010-2013 was the “sweet spot”
for building and scaling a company in the Bay Area. We talk about whether
distributed teams make sense due to the escalating cost of living and the
battle for talent in San Francisco. Whether an Apple Watch can replace your
smartphone. Justin talks about how he survives in Silicon Valley without a
phone, how going phone-free has changed how he works and lives and why he
compares compulsive smartphone use to an addiction. He says a smartphone is a
“Juul for your mind.” We're all big music fans, so we also talk about artists
we've been loving recently, why the lines between music genres are being
blurred, and the economics of creating music for artists. We also discuss some
of their favorite products including a gratitude journal app that will improve
your mental health, a “social network for athletes,” and a tool to help
organize your tasks at work. We’ll be back next week so be sure to subscribe
wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Also, big thanks to our
sponsors, Rally Rd and AngelList, for their support. Read more
chat with two serial entrepreneurs, Justin Kan and Ranidu. Justin Kan's career
blew up in the mid-2000s when he started livestreaming himself 24/7 on
Justin.tv, a Y Combinator backed startup that he co-founded. Justin.tv
eventually turned into Twitch and sold to Amazon for nearly a billion dollars.
He has gone on to found multiple startups since then, including Exec, Whale,
and now Atrium. Ranidu has a unique background. Before jumping into tech, he
rose to fame as an R&B and hip-hop artist . He went on to join Google before
founding the first of many startups, many of which have been centered around
his passion for music. We talk about a few of them including The Drop, The
Artist Union, and Audius, a decentralized audio distribution platform he
started earlier this year. In this episode we talk about: What they've learned
from building products and startups, what lessons they would give to
entrepreneurs starting out today, and how the startup and investing landscape
has changed. Justin explains why he says that 2010-2013 was the “sweet spot”
for building and scaling a company in the Bay Area. We talk about whether
distributed teams make sense due to the escalating cost of living and the
battle for talent in San Francisco. Whether an Apple Watch can replace your
smartphone. Justin talks about how he survives in Silicon Valley without a
phone, how going phone-free has changed how he works and lives and why he
compares compulsive smartphone use to an addiction. He says a smartphone is a
“Juul for your mind.” We're all big music fans, so we also talk about artists
we've been loving recently, why the lines between music genres are being
blurred, and the economics of creating music for artists. We also discuss some
of their favorite products including a gratitude journal app that will improve
your mental health, a “social network for athletes,” and a tool to help
organize your tasks at work. We’ll be back next week so be sure to subscribe
wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Also, big thanks to our
sponsors, Rally Rd and AngelList, for their support. Read more
On this episode I'm visiting Atrium's headquarters in SoMA in San Francisco to
chat with two serial entrepreneurs, Justin Kan and Ranidu. Justin Kan's career
blew up in the mid-2000s when he started livestreaming himself 24/7 on
Justin.tv, a Y Combinator backed startup that he co-founded. Justin.tv
eventually turned into Twitch and sold to Amazon for nearly a billion dollars.
He has gone on to found multiple startups since then, including Exec, Whale,
and now Atrium. Ranidu has a unique background. Before jumping into tech, he
rose to fame as an R&B and hip-hop artist . He went on to join Google before
founding the first of many startups, many of which have been centered around
his passion for music. We talk about a few of them including The Drop, The
Artist Union, and Audius, a decentralized audio distribution platform he
started earlier this year. In this episode we talk about: What they've learned
from building products and startups, what lessons they would give to
entrepreneurs starting out today, and how the startup and investing landscape
has changed. Justin explains why he says that 2010-2013 was the “sweet spot”
for building and scaling a company in the Bay Area. We talk about whether
distributed teams make sense due to the escalating cost of living and the
battle for talent in San Francisco. Whether an Apple Watch can replace your
smartphone. Justin talks about how he survives in Silicon Valley without a
phone, how going phone-free has changed how he works and lives and why he
compares compulsive smartphone use to an addiction. He says a smartphone is a
“Juul for your mind.” We're all big music fans, so we also talk about artists
we've been loving recently, why the lines between music genres are being
blurred, and the economics of creating music for artists. We also discuss some
of their favorite products including a gratitude journal app that will improve
your mental health, a “social network for athletes,” and a tool to help
organize your tasks at work. We’ll be back next week so be sure to subscribe
wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Also, big thanks to our
sponsors, Rally Rd and AngelList, for their support.
chat with two serial entrepreneurs, Justin Kan and Ranidu. Justin Kan's career
blew up in the mid-2000s when he started livestreaming himself 24/7 on
Justin.tv, a Y Combinator backed startup that he co-founded. Justin.tv
eventually turned into Twitch and sold to Amazon for nearly a billion dollars.
He has gone on to found multiple startups since then, including Exec, Whale,
and now Atrium. Ranidu has a unique background. Before jumping into tech, he
rose to fame as an R&B and hip-hop artist . He went on to join Google before
founding the first of many startups, many of which have been centered around
his passion for music. We talk about a few of them including The Drop, The
Artist Union, and Audius, a decentralized audio distribution platform he
started earlier this year. In this episode we talk about: What they've learned
from building products and startups, what lessons they would give to
entrepreneurs starting out today, and how the startup and investing landscape
has changed. Justin explains why he says that 2010-2013 was the “sweet spot”
for building and scaling a company in the Bay Area. We talk about whether
distributed teams make sense due to the escalating cost of living and the
battle for talent in San Francisco. Whether an Apple Watch can replace your
smartphone. Justin talks about how he survives in Silicon Valley without a
phone, how going phone-free has changed how he works and lives and why he
compares compulsive smartphone use to an addiction. He says a smartphone is a
“Juul for your mind.” We're all big music fans, so we also talk about artists
we've been loving recently, why the lines between music genres are being
blurred, and the economics of creating music for artists. We also discuss some
of their favorite products including a gratitude journal app that will improve
your mental health, a “social network for athletes,” and a tool to help
organize your tasks at work. We’ll be back next week so be sure to subscribe
wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Also, big thanks to our
sponsors, Rally Rd and AngelList, for their support.
