A-list angels : how a band of actors, artists, and athletes hacked Silicon Valley

A-list angels How a band of actors, artists, and athletes hacked Silicon Valley

Zack O'Malley Greenburg

Book - 2020

"When Ashton Kutcher first heard about 50 Cent's nine-figure Vitaminwater windfall in 2007, the actor realized he'd been missing out. He soon followed the rapper's formula--seeking equity instead of cash for endorsement deals--but with a twist: as the first person to top 1 million Twitter followers, Kutcher leveraged his social reach to accumulate stakes in a vast range of user-hungry tech startups. A decade later, Kutcher is perhaps the brightest in a firmament of star investors from Beyoncé and Jay-Z to Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez. Bartering credibility and connections in exchange for early (and often discounted) access to the world's most coveted investment opportunities, this diverse group changed the fac...e of venture capital while amassing portfolios packed with companies like Airbnb, Spotify, and Uber. But how did two once-dissonant universes--Silicon Valley and Hollywood--become intertwined? Forbes senior editor Zack O'Malley Greenburg told the first chapter of Kutcher's transformation for the magazine's cover story in 2016. Now he offers a lively, page-turning account of how this motley crew of talent managers, venture capitalists, and celebrities helped the creative class forge a brand-new blueprint for generational wealth. Through extensive reporting and exclusive interviews with more than 100 key players--including Shaq, Nas, Joe Montana, Sophia Bush, Steve Aoki, Tony Gonzalez, and dozens of behind-the-scenes power brokers--Greenburg sheds light on the unlikely group that fundamentally transformed the value of fame."--Page [2] of cover.

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Subjects
Entrepreneurship.
Celebrities.
New business enterprises.
Technological innovations.
Santa Clara Valley (Santa Clara County, Calif.)
Published
New York : Little, Brown and Company 2020.
Language
English
Main Author
Zack O'Malley Greenburg (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
xxiii, 259 pages ; 25 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 209-243) and index.
ISBN
9780316485081
  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1. Employees Only
  • Chapter 2. Crash Course
  • Chapter 3. Liquid Gold
  • Chapter 4. Dude, Where's My Startup?
  • Chapter 5. From Gaga to Google
  • Chapter 6. Nasdaq Dough
  • Chapter 7. Spotify Spotter
  • Chapter 8. New Ownership
  • Chapter 9. Stocks for Jocks
  • Chapter 10. Icarus, Inc.
  • Chapter 11. Doing Well
  • Chapter 12. Doing Good
  • Acknowledgments
  • Giving Back
  • Glossary
  • Notes
  • Index
Review by Kirkus Book Review

The Forbes senior editor of media and entertainment takes a look at modern show business-based entrepreneurship.Hollywood has always had its business-minded celebrities: Think of Fess Parker, who bought up vast swaths of Southern California real estate, or Roy Rogers, who built a restaurant chain in his name. The new breed, writes Greenburg, is likelier to invest in intangibles and speculative tech-based ventures. One to whom he pays particular attention is Ashton Kutcher, who built a considerable fortune playing film characters such as, fittingly enough, Steve Jobs and starring in one of the most popular series on TV, earning him the highest salary in the business. With a partner, Kutcher founded an investment fund worth $30 million in 2010 that soon grew to more than $250 million. The author credits him with doing his own homework and following an investment philosophy: "look for companies solving a real problemand consider unglamorous sectors." It's a philosophy that other celebrities, from Shaquille O'Neal to Jennifer Lopez and a small army of hip-hop stars, have taken to following. Examples include investment in a Los Angeles-based "company that makes companies," software that rounds up purchases and invests the change in index funds, and a "Fitbit for cows" that tracks a bovine critter's reproductive health and other issues. Having celebrity spokespeople and investors helps, but the companies Greenburg profiles are absolutely on track in solving real problems, even if they are sometimes real problems that most of us don't havee.g., how to snag a seat on a charter jet in the same way an earthbound traveler summons a rideshare driver. Though at heart his book is an extended magazine article, there's plenty of interest here, especially when the author looks at inventive philanthropy such as Matt Damon's Water.org, which brings plumbing to poor communities but also works "to create venture funds that generate low single-digit returns by giving cheap microloans."Solid business writing that will interest budding moguls. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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