About Josh Katz
In 2017, Josh Katz found himself in an interesting situation. He had just sold his midtown Manhattan business, but the buyers re-traded the lease from under him, leaving him with 100 square meters of prime New York real estate with no use. Fortunately, Katz didn’t let this business setback affect him, and he decided to use the space to host Ethereum meetups, providing a space for the fledgling blockchain community.
The start of his blockchain Music and emerging technology business odyssey had begun.
Josh Katz is the Founder and CEO of Yellow Heart, an NFT ticketing platform that empowers fans, artists, and sports teams.
Do you remember the Kings of Leon NFT from 2021? Yellow Heart advised the band’s team, built the NFTs and orchestrated the drop.
The collection raised $2 million, $500,000 of which the band donated to charity. But what it really did was open the web3 floodgates.
How did Josh get into blockchain and NFTs?
Before Yellow Heart he founded El Media Group (EMG), “the premier subscription music provider for business, servicing over 5000 of the premier luxury brands in hospitality, food and beverage, airports, casinos and retail. El Media Group was sold to Searchlight Capital Partners in 2017.” Before that, he was the Co-Founder of Hospitality Audio, giving top names in hospitality (NOBU, Four Seasons Hotels, Hilton, Marriott, Tao Group) access to audio systems.
Before his entrepreneurial spirit really took hold, Josh worked in the music industry with Arista Records, Jive Records and BMG Entertainment. Josh was responsible and assisted in the launch, development and marketing of Britney Spears, Buddy Guy, No Doubt and others.
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Check out other episodes on web3, nfts, emerging tech and the metaverse
Reid Blackman AI Ethics / Inder Phull Music In The Metaverse / Leo Nasskau Web3 and NFT Charity / Costantino Roselli Virtual Fashion and The Future of the Metaverse
5 Key Insights from Josh Katz
- Change has to start from the outside in, but scale from the inside out. This is a fundamental idea that has significant implications for anyone trying to make changes in their organization or industry. Starting from the outside involves understanding the needs and perspectives of external stakeholders, customers or partners. Scaling from the inside out involves making sure that those changes are embedded and supported within the organization itself.
- Pivoting is a critical aspect of building anything, and Josh took YH on a number of pivots. Pivoting refers to the process of changing a company’s strategy or direction based on feedback or new information. It’s a common practice in the tech industry, where startups often need to be flexible in order to succeed. Katz shares his experience pivoting his company, YH, and how it led to opening up the YH API’s to ticket sellers. This pivot allowed YH to focus on its core strength.
- When you want to learn something, bring people together with energy and authenticity. Katz reflects on his experience organizing Ethereum meetups in the early days of web3. He notes that his approach was more upbeat and positive, which helped to create a welcoming and inclusive environment. This approach, which he calls bringing people together with energy and authenticity, can be an effective way to encourage learning and collaboration.
- Audience composability will continue to be a big thread for web3. Audience composability refers to the idea of creating a customized experience for each individual audience member. In the context of ticketing, this could mean using blockchain technology to create tickets that include personalized information, such as the specific experiences or performances that the ticket holder is interested in. Nussbaum shares several exciting possibilities for audience composability, including the ability to see if any of your friends are attending an event and even the ability to trade places with someone sitting next to you.
- The cycle of technology – new tech is solving problems created by old tech. This final point is a reminder that technology is constantly evolving, and each new advancement brings with it new challenges and opportunities. As Kazt points out, the cycle of technology is a continuous process of solving problems that were created by earlier technologies. This cycle creates opportunities for innovation and growth, but it also requires constant adaptation and learning