An audio version of this essay is available on Substack here.
Jobs & Wozniak Lennon & McCartney Ben & Jerry
Collaborating with the right partner can supercharge your creativity and defeat surrender to the gumption-block-blues. Doubling the skill set is just the low hanging fruit to fruitful partnerships. Deadlines get met, confidence finds conviction, and the experience simply becomes more joyful when in positive collaboration. In the past week I launched a new course for INSEAD and dropped an EP of music. In both cases I teamed up with fantastic partners without whom the struggle to produce, and produce well, could be vexing.
On the music side, I’ve been working with David Dower, a phenomenal keyboardist from Australia, since 2018. Lights Up on the Vivid Stage is our second release together and more are planned. What’s our system? I write the songs and record initial demos of most of the instruments at my flat in Provence. Off these tracks go to David in Melbourne, who reimagines the arrangements, rerecords the keyboards, brings in other musicians to redo the other instruments if needed (I can play just about anything, but not always memorably!). He then sends the work-in-progress back to me for a listen. I have carte blanche to disregard all the great work he’s done – an effective partnership requires an agreement to disagree when needed – as I continue to strengthen the production. And then it might go back to him. Through this ping pong process we start to whittle down (or build up) to the most pure and powerful essence of the song in question. When happy that we’re 90% there, it’s off to a studio for final tracks and tweaks. Done.
Adrian Johnson is my teaching partner at INSEAD, where we offer a course on deep tech venture creation. I’ve written a book on the topic, and we use that as the starting point of our content. Adrian brings years of experience founding startups, and that knowledge strengthens my content immeasurably. With his computer science background, he’s also much better than me at setting up a well-designed online platform for student access and support, including an AI platform that is at the core of his latest startup. Adrian and I are both science geeks, but my professional background is in startup finance while his is in startup creation. Intimate knowledge of both is essential to design and run a top tier program such as this. By working in tandem we share the load and enjoy the camaraderie.
With both my music and teaching, the final product is stronger because of this blending of talents. There is also a multiplier effect from their personal networks. Through David I tap into a much wider web of top musicians than my own. Similarly, many of the speakers and external contributors to our INSEAD program come through Adrian’s deep rolodex of friends and former colleagues. My penchant to procrastinate is easier to curb when others are depending on shared deadlines being met; just another upside of partnering. But perhaps the greatest benefit is the joy of working alongside fun people with whom you enjoy spending time. At this point in life I avoid the complicated and seek out the easy, in both situations and people.
Apology
Yes, this essay is a month late. Okay, 6 weeks. I’ve been busy and the rosé hour starts early during these hot summer months in Provence. Maybe a writing partner could keep me on track? Hmmmm.
Lights Up on The Vivid Stage was release on July 18 and now available wherever you groove to music online.
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