Music business/management students learn the risks and rewards of starting a business.

By Kirsten Schubert '06
Berklee.edu Correspondent
December 1, 2006

Joe Langham offers advice to music business/management students.
Photo by Phil Farnsworth

Start from the bottom, prepare for setbacks, and work your way to the top. Professor Martin Dennehy of the Music Business/Management Department is known for his tell-it-like-it-is approach to teaching, and brought like-minded entrepreneurs to Berklee to discuss their outlook on what it takes to start a business and succeed at it.

The panel consisted of Bill Conway, board chair of Fairmount Minerals Ltd., the largest producer of industrial sand in the United States; Joe Langham, founder and president of Boston-based Comin Atcha Distribution (CAD), specializing in the distribution of independent artists and record labels into the market via Brody/Sony-RED; Valerie Lovely, a Berklee graduate and a music attorney with over 25 years experience in the music business; and Will Marks, an international consultant (now retired) who developed a magazine subscription agency that eventually was sold for $10 million.

When Martin brought up the glamorous illusions of starting your own business, the panelists spoke of all the things they missed out on because of the time invested to get them where they are today. Will Marks quoted a former business partner: "You know you are an entrepreneur when the house you're sleeping in is one payment away from being lost, you're wondering how to pay the phone bill, and your wife is leaving you."

For his own part, Marks said, "I was working seven days a week traveling. I would pack bags ahead of time so when I got off the plane I could grab the next one. Then I got cancer and was stuck in the sidelines finding out whether I was going to live. I kept thinking, ‘I haven't had a meaningful relationship with a woman.’ You have to say, ‘How much is enough?’ I've been married for two years now, and although you can't get the time back, I don't regret my choices."

Bill Conway added, "Twenty-four hours a day you're thinking, living, breathing the business. It's lonely. You can't run to another department—you are the department."

But what's learned during these times struggles is what molds business intellect. An experience can seem ruinous at the time, but analyzed and used in the right way, it can help you develop. The main thing to remember is to remain hungry. A few extra hours a week add up at the end of the month. Inadequacies will be overlooked because you deliver.

"The more you're out working, the more it will come your way," said Lovely.

From left: Martin Dennehy, Bill Conway, Will Marks, Valerie Lovely, and Joe Langham Photo by Phil Farnsworth

The passion of these self-starters spilled over once the conversation turned to tips on staying ahead of the game. Never be afraid to ask questions. Seize the moment, and don't be bashful. When you see an opportunity, go for it, but don't get so involved that you don't see what negative aspects might arise. Be a giver, not a taker, and don't look for a handout.

Langham said, "If there was a door slightly open, I would try to kick it down. Always be a person with integrity. Once you lose your reputation it's hard to get it back."

All the panelists agreed on sticking to the fundamentals that make sense. All entrepreneurs fail at least once. Don't let setbacks deter you. "Follow your gut. Life is too short not to do something you really enjoy," said Lovely. "Why spend time doing a job you don't like eight hours a day?"

If you make a full commitment to understand your business, these panelists prove that you can succeed. It's a risky game, but you have to take your chances and go for it. Or, as Dennehy put it, "This is for real—if you want to be in business you're going to get your teeth kicked in a few times."

Kirsten Schubert is a seventh-semester student in Berklee's Music Business/Management Department.