For early-stage founders in music, streaming and digital media
You've got the idea. Now the harder part.
A senior industry operator alongside you as you shape it, plan it, and build it well. Someone who has run digital entertainment innovation at Sony and understands your industry and product.
30 minutes to understand your situation and share my initial thoughts.
19 years inside Sony Music · SVP Digital, then Commercial Partnerships · Currently advising an early-stage AI venture in music
The Moment
You've decided. Now you want someone senior beside you.
You've decided you're doing this, or you're one call away. Maybe you have an idea, a deck, a first pilot customer. What you don't have is someone senior who has actually done this, in this industry, alongside you.
Your friends are supportive but not close enough to the work. Consultants are too commercial. Investors haven't earned the right yet, and you're not raising anyway. What you want is a sounding board with real weight: someone who can help you think it through, spot the risks you can't see from where you're standing, and keep you honest about what's real and what isn't.
Who This Is For
Operators stepping out on their own.
Founders who spent 10 to 25 years in music, streaming, digital media or an adjacent industry and are now stepping out on their own. Or operators from other industries building into music or entertainment, who need an industry insider by their side. The idea is real, the direction is chosen or nearly so, and the next 12 to 18 months are the ones that either work or don't.
How It Works
Read. Define. Build.
The Root Note Approach, applied to a founder and a venture.
I.
Step One
Read
What's actually true about you, and what's actually true about the venture in front of you. Before we design anything, we see it clearly.
II.
Step Two
Define
The shape of the business, the honest scorecard, the market read. What you're building, who it's for, and why it wins in this specific slice of the industry.
III.
Step Three
Build
An implementation roadmap through the messy early months, with someone senior who isn't going anywhere. Monthly calls, texting between them, and steady momentum.
Pricing
Three steps, one ladder.
Step 1
The State of Play Call
30 minutes on what you're building and where you're stuck, and my initial read. Your written 2-pager within a day, then 20 minutes a few days later to debrief the roadmap and answer your questions.
Free
Step 2
The Venture Compass
A concentrated 1-month effort: 3 structured calls, with work on both sides in between, to create, pressure test, and optimise the business plan and roadmap. Outcome: an internal or investor-facing deck that captures the work and outlines any remaining gaps, and how to close them. Credits in full toward Make the Move.
£995
Step 3
Make the Move
Close the remaining gaps through research and clear decisions. Then start diving into the roadmap together with foundational steps that support your go-to-market journey and build real momentum through continuous thought partnership and decision-making.
£4,495
Add-on
Go-to-market package
Run with MettaStartup Studio. Positioning Deepdive, Social Media Content Strategy, Website Direction, and your own GTM Claude Project Setup.
£1,599
After
Longer-term advisory
Low-touch, or deep access when you need me closer in.
£500 to £1,000 a month, or £3,000 a month deep access
Prices in GBP. The Venture Compass credits in full toward Make the Move, so Compass then Move is £4,495 total.
THE FREE PART
What happens when you book.
Two conversations and a written read. All free, and all yours to keep.
01
The call
30 minutes, video. I listen, ask questions, and audit what you're building, where you're stuck, and what's actually true. Then I give you my honest first read on the venture and the path forward.
02
The 2-pager
Within a day. It says back what I heard about you and the venture, and lays out a roadmap from here, including where I'd come in, if at all. It's yours to keep and use however you want.
03
20 minutes to debrief
A few days later, once you've read it. We walk the roadmap together, answer whatever came up, and sharpen the next step.
You leave with a clear read and a roadmap you can use.
Book a free State of Play CallWhy James
I've sat on the other side of the tables you're about to face.
19 years inside Sony Music, ending as SVP: Digital, then Commercial Partnerships. I ran the UK relationships with Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon and YouTube through the streaming shift. I know how these companies think, what they buy, and how they decide, because I sat on the other side of those tables for a decade.
Right now I'm the paid advisor to an early-stage AI venture in the personal-brand space serving artists, athletes and actors. Which means I'm doing this work live, not from memory. I'm also building my own music-adjacent AI tool alongside this practice, so I'm walking the founder path with you, not talking about it from a chair.
Music Week Best Sales Team 2024 · GLG and Coleman expert · ICF Level 2 · Westminster MA guest lecturer
Straight Answers
The questions people actually ask.
- What if the idea is still rough?
- That's a useful place to start. Bring the idea, what you think is true, and the parts you can't yet answer. The first job is to work out whether there's a business worth building and what needs testing next.
- What if my idea isn't strictly in music?
- If it's in music, streaming, digital media, entertainment or the tech serving them, we're in scope. If it isn't, I'll tell you honestly on the State of Play Call and refer if I can.
- How is this different from a startup course or accelerator?
- A course gives every founder the same sequence. An accelerator works to its own timetable. I work on the specific gaps in your venture, challenge the assumptions underneath them, and stay close while you turn the answers into a business.
- What will I have after the Venture Compass?
- A pressure-tested business plan, a clear roadmap, and an internal or investor-facing deck. You'll also know which gaps remain, which matter first, and how to close them.
- Do you write the deck for me?
- We build it together. I don't ghost-write it and hand it back. The thinking has to be yours, because you'll be the person defending it to partners, investors and the market.
- Have you actually built or advised an early venture?
- Yes. I'm building my own music-adjacent AI tool alongside this practice. I'm also the paid advisor to an early-stage AI venture serving people in the public eye. I'm doing this work now, backed by 19 years inside Sony Music.
- Can we start smaller than the Compass?
- Yes. Start with the free call. You get my initial read, a written 2-pager within a day, and 20 minutes a few days later to debrief the roadmap.
- Can we swap money for equity?
- Sometimes, on the right terms. I already hold an advisor equity seat with an early-stage founder now, so it's a real conversation, not a maybe. Ask on the call.
“He didn't just offer generic career advice. He helped me translate skills I'd built over decades into a new venture.”
Kelly Bush
Start with the free 30 minutes.
Free. Thirty minutes. You leave with a straight read on the venture in front of you, whether or not we work together.