Jackson Jane (left) and Michael Cruz (right) co-founded Protégé less than a year ago when they faced the common problem of lack of access to closed circuits in the world of entertainment and startups.
Protege
A new platform in the popular EdTech space promises amateur performers the opportunity to showcase their talent and receive feedback from industry experts. Protégé is the latest VIP monetization version of Jackson Jhin, who is also Vice President of Strategy at Cameo, where fans pay for personal messages from the platform’s marketplace for artists, athletes, creators, and more.
Protégé is Jhin’s answer to MasterClass and her awesome A-list coaches. MasterClass subscribers pay $15 a month to watch high-quality videos of Serena Williams talking about tennis or Helen Mirren explaining the acting. 27-year-old entrepreneur Jen has pointed out the lack of personalized one-on-one guidance and has seen a market among aspiring artists willing to pay for guaranteed access to (and advice from) professionals such as record producer DJ Khaled, singer-songwriter Bebe Rexha and Seinfeld actor Jason Alexander.
“Unfortunately, no matter how talented you are, if you don’t know the right person, especially in entertainment, good luck trying to break into the industry,” says Jen.
Clients are more likely to relate to the relatively lesser-known music producer Conrad Robinson, the vocal coach of Alicia Keys, than the likes of Lionel Richie. But the startup is backed by the 72-year-old pop star, as well as Will Smith, DJ Khaled, Ben Simmons, Jason Alexander and Scooter Brown, all of whom are angel investors in a $8.5 million seed funding round led by Sequoia Capital.
“This gives everyone a chance to narrow down their interests,” says Ritchie. Forbes. There are writers and producers who don’t get paid properly. With this, you can invest your brain, you can invest your talent and have fans within your reach as well.”
Protégé currently has 30,000 users and charges between $10 and $200, depending on the expert’s level of fame. Applicants receive feedback on a 60-second test video or get a chance to produce it with an artist. Protégé takes a 25% commission for the connection while the rest goes to the expert.
While the company is in its early stages compared to MasterClass’s $27 million in revenue in 2021, the hope is that the possibility of striking a deal with an expert and getting a foot in the door is more valuable to aspiring stars than anyone. generalized category. A lucky few out of 3,000 applicants for Protégé have already signed deals with music artists including HER, Breland, Brian Kelly and Bebe Rexha.
As an investor in startups that empower creators with specific skills and experience, Lee Jin says, Protigi’s apprenticeship model aligns with the broader trend of a fan-based economy. “Many things fall in this direction, such as Patreon, Substack, and NFTs. Protégé provides creators with a whole new way to monetize that relationship by revealing knowledge” Forbes.
Jhin and co-founder Michael Cruz hope to capitalize on the trend across multiple disciplines. Raised in an Asian immigrant family in Houston, Jane wanted to become a musician but was unable to get into the music industry. That’s when he realized that “talent is everywhere, opportunity is not.”
He met one of his founders in Chicago. Cruz has faced a similar roadblock to Jhin, but in the startup world. “For some reason, I couldn’t get a response. I went unnoticed. Looking back, the wall I hit was less about a skill gap and more about the access gap,” Cruz says.
Jason Alexander, who joined the board as an expert and investor, says that not all celebrities make good guides but that “anyone who is interested in art, or art in general, has the right to participate in it to any degree they can.”
“I was very impressed with the way they took Cameo from a startup to a really very successful organization. In a very short time,” says Alexander Forbes. Chicago-based Cameo, where Jhin was CFO at age 23, reached a $1 billion valuation in March 2021 and generated $2.5 million in revenue in 2021.
For the future of his next assignment, Jhin plans to add more experts in other sectors such as Youtubers, TikTokers, athletes, artists, and dancers. Ultimately, it aims to go public or be acquired by a larger education technology company
Deciphering how to achieve success has long eluded the vast majority of aspiring artists, the vast majority of whom have not attracted enough interest even to make a living in their craft. For every household name known around the world – Lizzo, Kanye, Seinfeld, The Rock – there are millions of artists the world will never hear about.
