5 tips I’ve learned being in an accelerator program

Over the past couple of months I’ve been taking a thrilling ride, I have been developing a project for an innovative musical startup accelerator program. Going through the various stages of this experience is teaching me loads about different topics, but above all about how to hack my behaviours to maximise quality and impact of my projects. I believe this learnings could be very helpful to everybody, but in particular those who are starting a musical project, such as composing a new EP, album or film score.

The Legendary Decks

This is the name of the project I’ve been developing. In few words, this is an anthology of new music composed by me, that I am releasing on colourful collectible smart cards. My main focus with this is to bring to my audience the joy of holding music they love in their hands. Feel free to check the official page here. When I proposed this idea to the accelerator program I’m part of they were ecstatic. In particular they loved one feature: scalability.

Tip 1: Make it scalable

When a project can easily be increased in scale it will make your life easier if its first steps are successful. But that is not all, investors/partners will love it! I learned that when I saw my project being received with much enthusiasm by the accelerator people and by a record label I’m partnering with (more on that later). The way I made The Legendary Decks scalable is by developing a plan to grow the collection of cards over time and to implement gameplay mechanics down the road that will allow anyone who bought the cards to experience something new and cool. Thinking this idea through since the very first steps allowed me to include elements, such as the augmented reality markers, leaving open the doors to growth.

This learning can easily be translated to creating the blueprint of a film score. When you propose a plan that involve scalability depending on budget you are basically saying you can do a very good job with little resources but also that you can put bigger resources to great use. Showing you have thought how to grow it in scale means peace of mind for the client that the project is in good hands, whether or not additional funds will be allocated to post-production/music. One example of this is proposing a score for string quartet that could be transformed in a string orchestra without needs of massive rewrites, or to get actually payable parts and scores ready when opting for all simulated orchestral mock-ups. Speaking of mock-ups…

Tip 2: Make a mock-up for yourself early

When I started designing the cards I was playing with many form-factors and materials. But that was happening purely digitally. Only once I made a physical prop did I realise that I loved one option much more than all the others: I went for an ID card shape and materials and that did convey the feeling of ‘premiumness’ I was looking for.

In case of a film score this could mean testing a concept idea musically before even proposing it to the director. Many times during a spotting session I’ve said things like “after reading the script I’ve immediately thought of this scene to be accompanied by a solo piano ostinato piece”. Sure enough my early intuitions proved effective most times, but had actually sat at the computer right away and created a rough mock-up for my only use I would have probably found out when that idea was not the best one. I know time is often an issue, but here’s another thing I’ve learned…

Tip 3: Infuse your project with a sense of urgency

Due to the nature of the accelerator program I had to develop the project to a point where it is ready for sale very quickly, only a few weeks really. This seemed a close to impossible task, but yielded some amazing “side-effects”. First of all it pushed me towards completion and didn’t give me enough time to take on other projects to juggle together (guilty of doing that soooo often…). But above all, this sense of urgency has been a key selling point. When I presented this project to the record label Enjoy The Ride Records they loved the idea right of the bat, however it is not usual for them to setup a new product sale in the matter of days. Having infused the project with a sense of urgency (and having the accelerator deadline in sight) gave me the confidence to ask for an unusual scenario, which added quite a bit to their excitement. Furthermore we wanted this first release to feel unique and limited and decided to keep sales open for a short period of time: 72hrs. Passing the urgency to partners, clients, customers, fans might also boost their interest and enthusiasm.

In the world of music for film, setting your pace to fast gears can have many positive effects. You will deliver cues steadily and early on, giving a sense of professionalism and enough time to ask for revisions. You will leave a reserve of time for the end, should something go wrong and need more attention than anticipated. Lastly you will help the director enter early in your musical world or to achieve early a common vision. In fact you should not be afraid to ask for the director’s opinion of your work-in-progress as soon as possible… yup another smooth transition to the next tip!

Tip 4: When in doubt ask your client

Early into development I had a few leap-of-faith assumptions that I didn’t feel so sure about. Above all: the price. How much should I charge for this thing? I started doing research of similar items, then I asked an opinion to family and friends, then I budgeted costs to see what price point would make it profitable… there was one thing I was avoiding time and time again: asking members of my audience, fans and buyers of my previous albums. My subconscious fears of the project not being received well by my “client” was blocking me from doing the only sound thing. Luckily the nice peeps at accelerator program shook me out of it and I reached out to ex-buyers and fans to ask all sort of questions on the project. This helped me define a price for it and so much more, early reactions gave me ideas on how to develop the project in the future and sight on what I was doing wrong.

I would lie if I said there haven’t been scoring experiences where I was afraid to send a director early cues. In these situations I took the time to refine cues until they sounded perfect to me. Sometimes they liked them, sometimes not, resulting in loads of time wasted (I talk about this extensively on my series The Lean Composer). Do you have a great new idea on how to score a scene, but you are not too sure the director will like it? Just ask them! Being afraid will not do you good, and remember that when you love something it is probably a good sign. Oh my, another perfect transition, I’m on fire….

Tip 5: If you love it other people will love it

Developing this project has felt so great since the beginning. I believe the reason being this is something I made with love. This is something I created thinking of what I would have bought if I were in the customer’s position. This project is very compatible with all my interests and passions. And there is a very good chance it is compatible with many other individuals with whom I share interests and passions!

By contrast I thought of many working experiences where I felt like hiding some aspects of my personality or interests and now realise I have been wrong all along. When you truly love something it your enthusiasm will be received as genuine and will infect others with excitement.

Hopefully this experience of mine will help you navigate your next projects, do let me know if this happens as that would make me happy!