I’m really dating myself, but my favorite period in the history of popular music was the late 1970s, early ’80s.
That’s when punk music ruled.
We rock fans had spent almost a decade swamped with gooey, orchestral, overproduced, faux rock ’n roll.
Then a few brilliant rockers got the idea in their pin-cushion heads to strip the sound down to its basics.
They shed all the lush strings and marshmallow studio techniques and amped up the guitars and drums and focused on pounding rhythm.
So rock music was captured by the punks and, at least for awhile, we stood knee-deep in terrific bands like the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Germs, X, and Dead Kennedys.
I’d hang in little L.A. clubs like Club 33 (on Venice Boulevard, as I recall) and Madame Wong’s in Chinatown. I loved it.
The music was great because it was, well, the real deal.
That whole punk attitude anchored into my system. So when I got the chance to launch my own business, it was instinctive to break the rules. To strip everything down to the basics. To just get on with it.
I didn’t have the patience to seek out business partners or “investment angels.”
Instead, I did some serious bootstrapping and got things rolling.
Take my advice…
Get a punk attitude.
Get it done.
Sometimes, even the head-bangers get it right.
“F—king ignore the system, use it when it suits you.” – Johnny Rotten
