December 2006
Daniel was highly stressed during the trip to the Dominican Republic, constantly checking emails at the hotel’s business center. He received daily emails from Lovelee’s CEO, clarifying that a recap was imminent and Daniel would lose everything. Thankfully, there were plenty of pina coladas by the pool. One day, to change Daniel’s mood, we went deep-sea fishing. Daniel was seasick throughout the trip, which gave us a good laugh afterward.
The best moments were around the pool, usually afternoons when we brainstormed about Blogmusik. At the time, I owned a Sony Ericsson T68i and dreamed of having the largest jukebox in the world in my pocket.
We discussed making Blogmusik available on mobile phones, foreseeing that they were the future. We discussed music discovery, agreeing that people often find new music through friends, leading us to consider features like playlists and profiles for music discovery.
We explored various business models. Advertising seemed promising, but we would need to create new audio advertising formats since people don't typically look at their screens while listening to music. We also considered subscriptions, allowing users to stream music on any device. We even considered growth hacks, like letting users upload their entire music libraries for free and share them with friends.
We envisioned an embeddable player for artists on MySpace to promote their tracks and a version of Blogmusik where artists could have their own website and community and sell music, merchandise, and concert tickets.
Bandwidth costs were a concern, so we considered embedding a yet-to-be-developed P2P-based streaming technology into our music uploader to leverage our users’ bandwidth. We recognized that the name Blogmusik wouldn’t be sustainable long-term and brainstormed rebranding ideas. We also discussed the music labels, thinking of Blogmusik as an evolution of the radio model. For context, my late father, also named Daniel, created the first private radio station in Guadeloupe in 1985 called Radio Bis, leveraging the deregulation of the radio industry initiated by the Pirates of the Radio. These pirates used illegal transmitters in Paris to broadcast music in the early 80’s, prompting the French government to legalize privately owned radio stations. We saw a parallel with Blogmusik's development, believing that if we positioned it as the best alternative to piracy, we might succeed despite the challenges.
By the end of the week, I felt that Daniel and I were bonding, and I could see some trust being established between us. I did not know yet if we would pursue the venture; I also had doubts.
Six weeks after returning from Punta Cana, I sent the email below to my then-girlfriend, now my wife (English version below the image):
[…]
Well, I was a bit upset last night. It's nothing to do with you, but since you're not here, I'll try to write everything down to get your advice or feelings on it. So, maybe I'm brooding over nothing, but I don't want to make a mistake. The subject is simple: should I partner with Daniel? Isn't there a risk of clash of personality?
Why these questions? It's simple, I've been observing Daniel for several months, and day by day since we came back from vacation. Daniel is undeniably brilliant from a technical point of view, but his business sensitivity is yet to be proven. I'm not saying he doesn't have any, just that he seems stubborn. The more I observe him, the more I notice things that could be thorny. I'll try to list some of them so you can get an idea:
Blogmusik (BM) is initially his project, so it's legitimate that he still wants to drive the project. But from the moment you start partnering with someone, the construction should be done by both, and the project definition is thought out by both. I've been working on the business plan for several days, and last night Mathieu P. and Daniel stopped by. I wanted to see Mathieu because he has a marketing expertise that I needed for my budget. When I started asking or data that seemed key to me, Daniel said, "we're not going to do this, we're not going to do that, there's no need for that, I don't want a marketing project....". I didn't react because I think I'll talk to him face-to-face. Same thing later in the evening, I thought of functionalities and submitted them to him, and instead of discussing them, I got, "but we're not going to do that, come on." I might be over thinking a little bit, but from what I can see, I don't think it's going to work. Again, I've almost finished the business plan, and he said, "I trust you," but he still hasn't looked at it. So, in the end, if I analyze things properly: he wants to direct everything, implement his vision of things, and just have a guy to manage the company. If that's the case, I have no place in it.
[…]
Daniel is 22, he's a bit young. He dropped out of school at 17, started working as a web developer, then threw himself into Lovelee three years ago, doing freelance work on the side to make a living. He partnered with two guys, one of whom became president, but turned out to be incompetent, to the point that with 1M€ in the bank in January 2006, they ended up in quasi bankruptcy by March 2007. Lovelee is almost dead, and Daniel feels completely deceived. It turns out now that he's afraid of partnering. Moreover, the way he handled his departure from Lovelee is very indicative of someone who avoids issues and chooses the ostrich policy instead. I'll spare you the details of the number of discussions we had about his departure, the things he was supposed to do and never did (for example: after returning from Punta Cana, he told me, "when Pierre comes back, I'll negotiate my departure," every day after Pierre's return, I asked if he had talked to him, and I always got a “no” in return. You see, he's the kind of guy who tells you he's going to do something, then ruminate over it afterward, then goes back on his decision, but doesn't inform you).
In summary, here's my analysis: Daniel is technically brilliant, doesn't know how to manage a project but refuses to have it managed for him, avoids problems, can’t seem to keep his words, leading to communication issues, and to top it off, he's stubborn.
I think maybe he's a bit young, and we need to find someone to supervise and reassure him, but I wonder if his case isn't already too complicated to handle. In a way, I see a bit of myself in him when I was younger. I think we'll discuss all these points thoroughly, I'll ask for commitments from him, and if we agree, I'll take the risk that he might not keep them.
From your side, based on what I'm telling you, what do you think?
[…]
Unconsciously, I knew how it would end before it even started…
So interesting to read this email!