Hardware Podcasts

Lady Gaga & Atom Factory: Troy Carter

How I Built This · 1 May 2017 · 44m

What this episode covers

Troy Carter, founder of Atom Factory, recounts his journey from a failed rapper in West Philadelphia to managing global superstars like Lady Gaga and Eve, and finally becoming a prominent early-stage investor. He details how he managed Lady Gaga’s career by bootstrapping with shoestring budgets, leveraging early social media platforms like MySpace and YouTube, and creating viral content to build a global fanbase before radio acceptance. Carter also describes his previous financial ruin, where he lost a $2 million exit from his management company Irving Wonder, leading to foreclosure and personal crisis, which he overcame by betting everything on Lady Gaga’s potential. His success with Gaga allowed him to pivot to investing, founding Atom Factory to back tech startups like Uber, Spotify, and Warby Parker, applying his entertainment industry instincts to Silicon Valley.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Atom Factory, Irving Wonder, Sanctuary Group, Uber, Spotify, Warby Parker, Lyft, Dropbox, Slack, Interscope
Products
Lady Gaga, Eve
Also
MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter

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