Rogan’s secret to building cool businesses
2024-07-20 18:20:00 +07:00 by Mark Smith
I think this piece from the latest Rogan podcast where he has on Sam Morril was kind of relevant to the theme of my latest newsletter issue #173, all about the Fiction, Art and Music that the technologies we build make possible. He’s managed over the last few years to create a comedy club that’s now become some sort of legendary comedy hub, and it’s not even in LA or New York. It’s in Texas.
They are talking about comedy clubs and after a great Rodney Dangerfield detour, Rogan highlights why he thinks the business has really started firing on all cylinders [01:12:54]:
The thing is there is a separation between the people that do it and the business. That’s where all the friction comes from. In my club there is no separation between the people that do it and the business, cause the people that do it, own it, and it’s all of ours. The way I refer to it, I don’t refer to it as my club. This club is setup for comedians, it was never setup to make any money.
The whole concept was that I just want to make something where I don’t lose money. I just want to break even, if I break even, I’ll be super happy. It’s not a money making venture at all.
So the money structure is different, the comedians get most of the money, and there is plenty of money for the bar and plenty of money for the wait staff. There is plenty of money for everybody. It’s just you can’t be greedy.
In most environments the club makes most of the money and the comedians don’t.
He then goes on to perhaps the take away observation [01:14:18]:
But it’s funny that the best way to make a business, is to make a business where you just do it the best way to express the art form, and then the business thrives.
It’s worth listening to the whole bit. I wonder if this is a re-occuring theme in the arts, or even in businesses in general. Some of the coolest places I've worked in my lifetime have had some elements of what he describes here. Presumably he’s able to fund the whole venture because of his other ventures. There’s something about the freedom he is able to provide that’s actually great for business.
I wonder how much time and effort he spends making sure it’s sustainable.