Connect with us

Success Advice

What Every Entrepreneur Can Learn From The 4 Richest Hip Hop Moguls

Published

on

While many hip-hop artists are quick to jump on the mic and talk about all the money they’ve made, none have been able to attain the success (and salary) that the following businessmen/rappers have. Their success wasn’t all due to their lyrical abilities—they all possess very business-savvy traits found in many Fortune 500 CEO’S.

We can all afford to take a lesson or two from these four formidable hip hop artists who took their empires from the studio to the “C level”.

 

 

 

 

Lessons From The 4 Richest Hip Hop Moguls

 

 

Sean “Diddy” Combs Networth: $580 Million

Diversification

Diddy Hip Hop EntrepreneurThe rapper-actor-producer-designer-entrepreneur Sean “Diddy” Combs, seems to make a few million every time he changes his name. He’s gone under the names Puffy, Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Diddy Dirty Money, and finally, Diddy.

But Diddy (as I’ll refer to him from now on) has come a long way from his days as a party promoter at Howard University. After signing the late Notorious B.I.G. to his newly formed Bad Boy Records, his career skyrocketed, first as a producer/rapper and then as an entrepreneur.

Diddy’s empire, Bad Boy Entertainment Worldwide, owns and operates Bad Boy Records, restaurants in NYC and Atlanta, numerous clothing and fragrance lines, and helped turn Ciroc vodka into the second ultra-premium vodka in the world.

Lesson Learned Whether you are investing your time or money—diversify, diversify, diversify! Diddy didn’t stop (can’t stop, won’t stop) with music, so find multiple markets or tracks to invest in!

 

 

50 Cent’s Networth: $260 Million

Branding

50 Cent Net Worth EntrepreneurAfter growing up in poverty, being shot nine times, and having his debut album shelved, it seemed the 50 Cent just couldn’t catch a break. After hearing about his violent past, no record company would have him in their offices. In fact, it’s rumored that 50 Cent wrote a few songs for Diddy until the mogul saw 50 carried a gun with him to the studio.

Finally, 50 Cent caught a break when Dr. Dre and Eminem gave him a shot.

50 quickly released hit after hit and topped the charts. But it seemed that just being a rap superstar wasn’t enough. Instead of endorsing brands, 50 Cent looked to break new ground. While just putting one’s name on a product for a flat fee was a standard practice, almost all of his deals included equity in the product on top of an endorsement fee.

Some of these deals included his own clothing line, a shoe line with Reebok, books, movies, and video games—who needs to rap? But his biggest paycheck came from an unsuspecting source when Coca-Cola acquired Vitamin Water. 50 Cent, who owned a 5% stake in the company, walked away with $200 million—10 times as much as he had made selling records.

50 Cent now owns SK Energy Drink that is taking over the Energy Shot market.

Lesson Learned: 50 Cent came into the industry with a bad stigma attached to him. When he finally got a chance to make his mark, he put his name on everything and it paid off. Put your business’s name on all your merchandise—everything from shirts and umbrellas to golf items and custom sunglasses can be branded by companies like Pinnacle Promotions—as you never know what’s going to be the true moneymaker in the end.

 

 

Dr. Dre’s Networth: $360 Million

Talent Acquisition

drdreMost recently, Dr. Dre made headlines (and about $150M) with his Beats by Dre Headphone line. The headphones have been endorsed by Lebron James, Lil Wayne, and college students on campuses across the world. But before the doc got his hand in business, he was known as one of the best scouts for talent in the industry.

As a producer and rapper, he is contributed with kick starting the careers of some of the biggest names in hip-hop: 50 Cent, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg (aka Snoop Lion), and Eminem. But it seems that the 48 year-old is focusing less on looking for upcoming rappers, and more on finding the vice presidents of his next start up.

Dre and business partner Jimmy Iovine have donated $70 million dollars to the University of Southern California to create a new degree which will blend marketing, business, product design and development, and liberal arts. The first class of students are set to begin the new degree in 2014 and may be en route to becoming music moguls themselves.

In anarticle detailing the contribution, Dre says “this is the biggest, most exciting and probably the most important thing that I’ve done in my career.

Lesson Learned: Always be on the lookout for fresh, new talent. Whether you use local head hunters or websites such to find talent, bringing new ideas into your conference room can be the difference between winning over new clients and moving into a studio apartment.

 

 

Jay Z’s Networth: $500 Million

Networking

Jay-ZJay said it best himself—he’s not a businessman, he’s a business, man! While he may not be the richest hip-hop mogul, he has definitely become the face of the industry. Before blowing up as a face of a genre, Jay created Roc-A-Fella Records and clothing line. Not long after, he began to dive into other industries. His business ventures range from hospitality (40/40 Club), live concert promotions (Live Nation/Roc Nation), sports management (Roc Nation Sports), and at one point was a part owner of the Brooklyn Nets.

However, Jay’s real strength is his power of networking. Year after year, he has shown his ability to connect with musicians from different genres, CEOs from various industries, and even the leader of the free world, President Barack Obama. What other musician do you know that texts with the President?

Lesson Learned: You’re only as good as the company you keep. Jay recognized this as his music career started to turn into a business career. You can be the savviest businessman/businesswoman, but if no one knows, you’ll get nowhere. Connecting with likeminded individuals and joining industry discussions on LinkedIn could be the key to landing your dream job, securing investments for your venture, or connecting with the perfect partner.

 

Checkout this interesting graph of Jay-Zs Estimated Brand Value

JayZ - Estimated Brand Value

As album sales continue to drop, the music industry is becoming less and less enticing. While some artists seem to be only relying on their musical ability, others are looking elsewhere to retain their wealth. Whether you look up to 50 Cent’s branding marvels or the networking skills of Jay Z, these artists are prime examples of savvy rappers turned business moguls.

Advertisement
8 Comments

8 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Success Advice

How to Alter Your Business Approach With Technological Advancements

Keeping up with technological trends has become a challenge for almost every business owner.

Published

on

altering business approach
Image Credit: Midjourney

Technology’s evolution has impacted everything, and business is no exception. Keeping up with technological trends has become a challenge for almost every business owner. Entrepreneurs unable to do so are being wiped out of the market.

There is no doubt that AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) have taken over the business world. These technological advancements are impacting decision-making, success percentages, and other entrepreneurial aspects.

Adapting to these developments is integral to business success. Let’s explore how you can accomplish these milestones.

Embed the strength of AI and ML.

AI has modified business operations in major ways. For instance, companies have employed bots for customer support. These bots go through an effective learning process via Machine Learning before being able to answer like humans.  

Bots can also perform detailed data analytics and make business moves with high success percentages.

ML is used more for the analysis of data chunks and generating successful predictions. This simply means that business owners do not have to worry about large-scale financial losses. 

In terms of deployment and usage, a reputed company like Netflix employs machine learning for decision-making.

Blockchain is increasing the count of business opportunities

Tampering of financial transactions is quite common and causes severe monetary damage to customers. With the rise of digital payments, this risk has increased. 

Blockchain is used to elevate your experience for monetary transfers. It combats penetrating events to extract confidential customer information. 

Most business sectors are using block chain but finance and supply chain management sections have a higher count. These two corporate sections have several monetary deposits and withdrawals taking place. 

In terms of percentage, approximately 72% and 5% of finance and supply chain firms have implemented block chain successfully.

Dedicate Yourself to Continuous Learning and Individual Development

You invest in learning some of the very important skills, including digital marketing, financial management, and how to gain customers as an entrepreneur.

You need to set up your knowledge base about doing business on Coursera and Udemy with the basics that are necessary for the business, building further by networking with experts through webinars.

Besides, Agile methodology will introduce elasticity to your company: this review and feedback system with further correction regularly will allow for enhancing efficiency and promptly reacting to the market.

Developing key skills to achieve goals

Running a business successfully is not only about having niche/domain knowledge. Business owners need to have communication / soft skills as well in addition to niche information.

Here are some key technical/domain-related areas that business owners should have a strong grip on.

Data Storage on Cloud: These days, companies do not store their data on physical servers. Therefore business owners should know how data is stored/edited/removed/updated via AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and other platforms.

Data Analysis/Interpretation Qualities: These days, data is as precious as gold. Business owners with data analysis abilities make correct predictions. As a result, their ventures grow in volume.

Development/Coding Knowledge

Programming knowledge gives business owners an edge whether the application is developed in-house or outsourced. It assists in getting updates deployed and handling application underperformance without getting professional support every time.

Hacking proof framework

There is no benefit of having an advanced automated system if can be penetrated. Successful business owners have above-average knowledge of cyber security and hacking attempts. They are able to choose top-notch anti-hacking software without much of an ambiguity.

Communication Abilities/Soft Skills

Here are some key communication qualities that business owners should have:

Communication/Conversation: Business owners should use to-the-point sentences in both written and oral communication.

Issue Resolution Abilities: Business owners should be able to drill down to problems and solve them. This is done successfully only if an entrepreneur has in-depth business domain knowledge.

Agile Implementations

It is mandatory for business owners to have knowledge of iterative/agile models. With such a competitive environment, it is impossible for business owners to succeed without adopting an agile framework.

Create a productive well-crafted Business Strategy

A productive business venture starts with a clear vision. The first factor making a business successful is the idea behind it. It helps with endless growth and combating competition successfully. Katherine Philips once mentioned that business goals are inevitable if goals are set concretely.

  • Goals should be based on smart achievements instead of complexity. Focus on the value that each one of them adds. 
  • Business objectives should not be vague. Key indicators should be constructed to measure the success/failure of each milestone.
  • Be realistic when setting goals. Do not aim at impossible milestones since they can be demotivating.
  • Milestones/goals need to be time-bound. Set a completion deadline for each one of them. 
  • Business goals should not be alien. Owners can think out of the box but not be obsolete / unrelated.

Create a productive well-crafted Business Strategy

Business owners cannot succeed without having a network. Some tips help in this case. Attend conferences and professional gatherings to connect with other entrepreneurs.
Here are some other related points business owners should pay attention to.

  • Attend meetings and conferences to stay updated with trends and meet business owners who already have well-set ventures. This helps in enhancing the learning curve of new / growing entrepreneurs.
  • Being a part of business communities/groups is very productive. When one shares opinions and discusses decision-making tactics, it helps in preventing errors and enhancing success rate.
  • Even the most experienced business owners have mentors as learning never stops. Take part in mentorship programs so there is an assurance that you are following the correct roadmap.

Conclusion

There is absolutely no doubt that business dimensions have evolved with technological advancements. Successful entrepreneurs have grabbed these changes in due course of time and continue to evolve. On the other hand, people following old paths and conventional steps fade out of competition. In a nutshell, keep an eye on the processes and practices you follow as these factors decide success rate.

Continue Reading

Success Advice

Understanding the Power of Yes and No: How to Create Boundaries For Success

These words have a significant impact on how our success unfolds

Published

on

Creating legal boundaries
Image Credit: Midjourney

The two smallest yet most powerful words in life, “Yes” and “No,” have a big impact on our growth on both personal and professional levels. In addition to affecting the choices we make every day, these words have a significant impact on how our success unfolds. (more…)

Continue Reading

Motivation

From Couch Potato to Go-Getter: A Step-by-Step Motivation Plan for Everyone

By understanding what motivates you, you can turn your dreams into reality

Published

on

How to be motivated
Image Credit: Midjourney

Are you tired of feeling like a couch potato? Do you want to transform your life and become a go-getter? You’re not alone! Many people struggle with motivation, but the good news is that change is possible. (more…)

Continue Reading

Success Advice

10 Micro Financial Habits for More Wealth and Peace of Mind

The World Economic Forum still reports that half of U.S. adults lack financial literacy

Published

on

micro financial habits
Image Credit: Midjourney

You’ve heard about developing financial habits, but what about micro-financial habits? Micro habits are the tiny things you can do every day with minimal effort that, together, transform your future. (more…)

Continue Reading

Trending