Our Vision
The majority of tech startups require investment capital to launch their businesses as well as a community of like-minded and supportive advisors and staff. On the investment front, though there are well developed network angel investor groups, early-stage VCs, and “incubators” (programs that provide capital and mentorship) in the US and Europe, a conspicuous gap exists: none focus specifically on startups that aim to develop products/services that serve the arts & culture sector.
The potential for innovative tech startups in the arts (broadly defined as theater, classical and modern music, opera, dance, museums and performing arts centers) is large, as this list demonstrates:​​
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Recording, producing, and/or editing digital content for live events
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Live concert production tools/technology
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Content creation tools -- recorded, visual, video etc
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AI-driven generative or process-driven technologies
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Marketing/promotion/social media tools or systems
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Improved distribution of arts content, in “traditional” media (streaming, podcasts, etc.) and/or future formats (e.g. VR, AR, metaverse, etc.)
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Technology supporting the creation and management of the arts infrastructure
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Technology that enables collaboration or innovative audience development
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Production oriented tools, for sound, lighting etc.
In the US alone, the size of the arts industry is significant:
​75,000+
organizations
The number of arts & cultural organizations in the US alone.¹
$1.02 trillion
The amount that arts & culture economic activity represents.²
$21.43 billion
The amount of charitable contributions to the arts in 2020.³
¹ National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS).
² 2021, Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).
³ 2020, Giving USA
The Problem
Despite the large market-cap of the arts industry, the sector is still not seen as large enough for the vast majority of early-stage tech angel investors or VC funds. As a result, entrepreneurs who are seeking to build arts-focused startups face an uphill battle. And, those that are successful often receive backing not from seasoned professional investors, but from affluent arts enthusiasts they've met by chance or through family ties.
This dynamic inevitably limits the diversity of founders and the number of companies who are able to secure funding. Furthermore, the “arts enthusiast” backers, though well intentioned, often lack the business acumen and industry networks that experienced investors can provide.
The Solution
This arts-technology.com is the first step in addressing this problem. My vision is to dramatically improve the future of the arts industry - by unearthing the most promising/innovative and forward thinking ideas/businesses that have the potential to change the arts industry for the better by:
01.
Identifying and nurturing promising early stage companies that are seeking to improve how the arts operates, build audiences, and evolves
02.
Helping entrepreneurs get their businesses off-the-ground and supporting them with expertise, coaching, and introductions to potential investors.
03.
Creating a centralized database and community of like-minded founders and providing a regular stream of content, information expertise to them.
Ultimately, I would like to raise a venture fund that would invest directly in promising companies, but that is likely to take some time to materialize. For now, this site is a start down that path.
About Me
I’ve been working at the intersection of tech and the arts, since the inception of the consumer Internet in the late 1990s. I trained as a professional cellist. I attended Juilliard in high school and then the Oberlin Conservatory. I got involved in arts management. and eventually became executive director of the American Symphony Orchestra in New York city in the early 1990s, producing concerts at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and managed several international tours and worked on grammy nominated recordings. Then after graduating from Columbia Business School and working at American Express, I founded two visionary arts industry focused tech companies. The first, CultureFinder.com, funded by AOL and Comcast’s venture capital arm, which was the first “arts channel” on AOL, and the first to sell Broadway and arts tickets online on AOL.
In the early 2000s, I pivoted and founded Patron Technology which evangelized the shift to digital marketing in the arts & cultural industry, building the industry’s first e-mail marketing product, PatronMail, growing a client base of over 1,800 non-profit cultural organizations. We then launched another product -- PatronManager.com, (recently renamed) ticketing/fundraising/marketing software system built in partnership with Saleforce.com. Our PatronManager’s customer base grew to over 700+ cultural organizations (theater, opera, orchestra, performing arts centers).
During that time I co-authored Breaking the Fifth Wall: Rethinking Arts Marketing for the 21st Century, a book that was sold into the arts industry and generated over 100 speaking opportunities. The book was also translated into Spanish and marketed in Latin America and Spain. My co-founder had the opportunity to exit Patron Technology in 2017 to Providence Equity, and I remained on for several years as CEO, during which time the company acquired five businesses.
Since then, I became an active member of the NY Angels for several years, and has been mentoring/advising several early stage tech startups. I’m on the board of TRG-Arts, a leading arts audience development and fundraising consulting company. And, from 2017-21 I was co-chair of LaunchU, an alumni inspired entrepreneurship program at Oberlin where students, faculty and alumni start-ups participated in a month-long intensive boot camp followed by a pitch competition and a cash prize for winning ventures.
I split my time between New York City and Great Barrington, MA, where I am founder/festival director of Berkshire Busk! a 10-weekend summer street performer festival. .