[man 1] The first thing that I wanted to do,
when I achieved something that I believed my entire life was impossible,
was help others.
[man 2] Some days I wake up asking myself why I am doing all this,
why I couldn't live a normal college lifestyle.
But then other days I wanna just try to build something amazing.
[man 3] We don't sleep. To us, this isn't work.
This is what our passion is. It's what we do 24/7.
[Zane] You have four advisors down there.
It's about making sure they understand how passionate you are.
You have 60 seconds on the escalator
to get them to choose to be a part of your project.
You'll know because at the end of your escalator ride,
they'll either go green or red.
If you get four reds, you go home.
But if you have at least one green,
you'll get to continue your pitch and tell the story of your app,
in the hopes of partnering with one of the advisors.
If that happens, you'll spend the next six weeks honing your app
for a chance to earn a share of over ten million dollars
in venture capital investment
and featured placement on the App Store.
[pulsing techno theme]
[bell rings]
[man] Let's get started, guys.
I think he has the cooties. I don't want his drinks.
[Gary] I didn't even know that I had cooties.
-I'm ready. -Good. Good, good, good, good.
-You been rehearsing this? -Day and night.
Do you consider yourself adept at selling?
Do you think you can sell your app on the escalator?
I think I have a convincing story.
No. Can you sell yourself on this escalator?
-I can sell myself on this escalator. -All right. Very good.
'Cause time's up, man. So it's no more analyzing.
-Now or never. -Yeah. This is it.
Hi, I'm Zack, and I'm the founder of Afterbox.
I'm a 20-year-old computer security and marketing student.
Weird mixture, but it means I'm a busy person,
and I have a lot going on.
When I can, I fit in time to program my own personal projects.
I've been programming for about eight years now.
When I was around 12 years old, my parents bought me my own laptop,
and rather than disappoint them, I taught myself how to program.
[Zack narrating] Everybody's lost somebody,
and I really feel that the advisors are gonna connect with my mission,
and I hope at least one does.
-[man on PA] In 3, 2, 1. -[exhales]
I'm Zack Banack, the creator of Afterbox.
I envision a future where meaningful, intangible information--
stuff we can't feel or see, data, wisdom--
can be passed on seamlessly between generations or to those we trust.
You see, last year, my best friend, Matthew, passed away.
So many of us aren't prepared for death.
With Afterbox, users can comfortably store important pictures and video,
passwords, PIN codes, notes, memories,
and invite guardians, friends and family, to safeguard.
This data will only be accessible to guardians
in the event the user fails to log in for a defined duration
or enough guardians raise concern about the user.
In a world falsified by perceptions of invincibility,
Afterbox can help people of all ages proactively define their legacy
and preserve what matters most.
[tense, pulsing music]
-Looks like I saved your ass, man. -Thank you, Gary.
You're welcome, my friend. You wanna get into it?
So the first screen is drawers.
Got documents. You store notes in there. Photos.
It's self-explanatory. It's meant to be accessible, easy to use.
So nobody knew this until now, but...
when I was around 12, I buried a time capsule.
The location of it is in there.
[all laugh]
-Amazing. -That's really sweet.
[Zack] Let's look at some photos.
I have a picture of my family and I on a vacation we took last year.
Me winning homecoming king, somehow.
Uh, a tree with my friends' names carved into it.
Right at the center, homecoming.
-[Zack] Right in the middle. -I love it.
Afterbox isn't a legally binding will of any sort.
But it is a testament that you can always hold and have.
So you can add wishes and requests--
final wishes or things that you want your family to do for you
in the worst case scenario.
What if I forget to interact with it cause I'm busy,
and then it gives out all my information?
[Zack] I'm glad you mentioned that.
You can add social media to your account-- Facebook, Twitter.
If you're active on those platforms, your box stays locked.
You don't need to set reminders to log in.
Security is the utmost importance to me with Afterbox.
And I'm a third year computer security student.
So I kind of know what to do for the most part.
I know where my flaws are, and I know what I can't get done.
And what are those things?
Encryption. Making sure...
we diminish the likelihood of an attack as much as possible.
This year--
There's a lot of sensitive information in there.
[Zack] There's so much sensitive information.
You got passwords, amongst the most meaningful stuff to you.
If there's one data breach,
trust is gone, brand name is ruined.
Do people pay for it? Is it free?
Yes. So what I am thinking is a free tier with a certain amount of storage.
Is it basically Dropbox within a niche?
-Exactly. It's a niche Dropbox. -A freemium model.
-Exactly. -And how much do you want to raise?
I'm looking for about $30,000.
I don't think you come on a show like this and ask for $30,000.
I think that gives me more insight to the lack of business acumen
that will take it to the next place.
Zack, with that-- with that being said,
I didn't see the pieces that I needed
for me to feel confident that I could help you at this point
or things that excited me to really move forward.
Oh, you're gone, bro?
Yeah. I-I think that I have to be out.
Listen. Thank you so much, and I-I wish you well.
Um--
My father died when he was 58.
And I can't tell you--
If my father had had and used one of these and had uploaded
scripts that he had written that had never been produced,
and his thoughts and his watercolors--
pictures of his watercolors that he never wanted us to see--
The quality of my life-- And all of his wisdom that--
I mean, I need him so badly.
I need his parenting advice. I need his jokes.
If he had really had this and utilized it, it would be...
the greatest gift to me that I could ever articulate.
And so for that alone,
and for the amount of money that you want to raise,
I'm changing to green.
-Oh, thank you. -[Gary] Amazing.
Oh. Thank you.
So do you want to partner with me?
I would love to partner with you.
Thank you for saving my butt.
[all laugh]
[Gwyneth] I just want to be around you all the time.
[Zack] Hug. Yay. Wow.
Congrats.
Yes.
I honestly want to start filling it out,
so, God forbid, if anything happens to me, my children--
-Those little nuggets-- -Just nuggets.
[bell rings]
[man on PA] All right, everybody. Here we go. Step back.
You've got yourself into an amazing position in your life now,
where you can do some good and you can be inspiring.
But there was a time when you weren't inspired,
and you were feeling bad about yourself.
My name is Arya Farzin, and I created Heat Running.
I weighed 365 pounds at age 19.
When I was losing the weight, I would run six days a week.
But I had to do it alone. None of my friends were into it.
So I started to imagine myself running with other people.
It was this imaginary competition that got me through these runs.
Conquering this made me want to help other people
who also needed help,
other people who were at rock bottom, who had nowhere to turn.
So I wanted to create somewhere
where they're not just motivated, but supported.
I wish you all the best, man. What an amazing story.
Thank you so much.
Here's to the next chapter.
4, 3, 2, 1. Doors.
At age 19, I was told I wouldn't live past 30.
But guess what?
My name is Arya Farzin, and nine years ago,
I lost over 200 pounds and changed my life.
It gave me the passion and desire to help people succeed.
Two years ago, I created Heat Running to do just that.
Heat Running is the only app
that puts users in a virtual race against each other.
Other apps simply compare data and results.
In our world, runners from all over the world can run together,
have fun, and motivate each other.
Mentors, your heat is about to begin.
Are you ready?
[all laughing]
-Nice. -Yes. I gotta lose my belly!
[tense, pulsing music]
Okay, Arya. You could pitch really good and turn reds to green.
Or you could pitch really bad and turn greens to red.
[Gwyneth chuckles] But no pressure.
So coming from a Persian family,
my mom and family, they were a little bit overweight--
a lot overweight-- and their habits, I think, were passed through me.
And when I used to lose the weight,
I would run six days a week by myself.
Running is hard. It takes a long time.
It can be boring. It's hard to do it consistently.
So I would imagine myself running with other people.
Maybe it's just better to show you. That was me, 365 pounds.
Diagnosed with sleep apnea. Prediabetes.
Really just hitting rock bottom.
One of the biggest issues that we solve with this app
is motivating people to exercise.
This is our virtual track.
You're the star.
And the dots moving around, that are starting to move,
represent the other runners.
What's the difference between this and MapMyFitness?
So MapMyFitness is very data oriented.
It gives you the stats. It gives you the graphs.
But how hard is it-- Say, for example,
Gary's like, "Yo, Will. Yo, let's race.
This is what I did last week. Check out my route."
How hard is it for MapMyFitness to also track the--
do exactly this with all the other data and stuff they have?
Copy the feature.
It's tough, because they have so much going on already,
which is part of the reason why I wanted this app.
When your answer to "Why doesn't one of the leading fitness apps do this"--
Your answer can't be, "Cause they're so busy doing other things."
-Right. -That's naive.
If you got 500, you know, trainers--
If you came here and been, like,
"Look. I've galvanized all the freaking trainers in the world"--
And I know the fighter spirit you have.
This show's not gonna go anywhere.
Fitness isn't going anywhere.
Trainers aren't going anywhere.
And if you could bring that-- that posse together--
Beh johneh toh, I know you will get there.
And if-- You speak Farsi?
I do. I heard what you said.
Beh johneh toh means "I swear on my life."
I'm gonna go from green to red.
-But you are a fighter. -I am a fighter.
You went from, you know, 19,
being, you know, the monster that ate all the tahdig,
to this, you know--
the Persian version of Drake. Right?
I wish that everything was, like, one step further along.
Okay.
I do wish there was a real community, like Will is saying.
I'm gonna pass.
Arya, thank you so much, man.
All right. Thank you.
-And I wish you the best. -Thanks, guys.
-[Jessica] Good luck. -Thank you.
[Zack] Like Arya from Heat Running,
many of the other developers struggled to impress the advisors.
Gameit is unlike any other mobile game,
because it's a game of skill
where you win a real prize.
Those prizes range from a watch all the way to a Ferrari.
[shouting] Seriously! A Ferrari!
Like, a $210,000 car
that goes zero to 60 in, like, two seconds!
I don't really understand what this is.
Forget-Me-Not is an iOS app that serves as an aid to your natural memory.
This is a feature for a much bigger competitor.
[man 1] SHFT is, like, a fitness tracker for your ideal life
that turns self-betterment into a lifestyle
and empowers people to close their gaps
from their stuck self to their ideal self.
-[man 2] Thank you so much for your time. -[sighs] Golly.
[man 3] We just want to neutral out the iPads.
Copy that. We'll just neutral them out.
-Music guys. -Yeah, man.
-[sighs] -Little something.
I can relax a little bit, man. I know this.
I'm Winston, and I'm the cofounder of RecordGram.
I'm a music producer as well as a international DJ.
Been producing for about... [buzzes lips] 15 years.
I'm Erik Mendelson. I am the CEO and cofounder of RecordGram.
I'm an executive music producer.
The idea for RecordGram came about
because our music industry is changing a lot,
especially for producers and writers.
So we're trying to figure out innovative ways to discover new talent
as well as kind of make a little bit extra money.
[Erik] Anyone can build a music app. That's not hard to do.
But having the relationships to actually execute on the idea of the app
is where we succeed.
[man on PA] 3, 2, 1. Action.
Hi. I'm Erik Mendelson, executive music producer,
artist manager, and CEO of RecordGram.
And I'm Winston Thomas, Grammy Award-winning music producer
for the likes of Nicki Minaj, Pitbull, and a few others.
[Erik] There are millions of people around the world
that have a burning desire to be a music artist.
However, they either don't have access
to quality producers like Will and Blackout,
or they can't afford to pursue a career in music.
The solution to their problem is RecordGram.
Users can discover beats, write to that beat, record to that beat,
creating an original song,
then shooting a video to that original song,
sharing that video across their social platform,
as well as RecordGram instantly turning their friends into fans.
No matter where you live, no matter how much money you have,
it gives you the ability to awaken your inner musician.
[tense, pulsing music]
[Winston exhales]
-Congratulations. Please step down. -[Erik] Thank you.
-[Gary] Wow. -I'd like to see how it works.
[Erik] Cool. Right.
[Winston] For the demonstration, we're gonna use a profile-- iamkatiesteel.
She's a R&B artist, so she goes to our producer marketplace.
She's searching tracks. She's looking for featured producers.
So you pick a beat.
You can preview the track.
[mid-tempo instrumental]
It's fun.
[continues]
You like the track.
[music stops]
Sing on the beat.
How do you record?
You press the RecordGram button.
It counts down.
[music resumes]
[speaking rhythmically] Check, check.
Check. Check, check, check, check.
[music stops]
[music resumes]
Check, check. Check. Check, check, check, check.
It's a multitrack recorder, so we have up to five tracks to record.
Once they've recorded, we can save the song,
make it public or private,
add it to our community,
play it back, or shoot a video.
And you could presumably share the video as well, right?
Absolutely. A hundred percent.
[Winston] We have our stage page,
where these are just users on the platform currently
that have created songs and videos, so--
Erik, it feels like there's a social network,
there's the video components--
But the recording of it and things of that nature--
Aren't there a lot of things like this?
[Erik] The answer to your question is yes,
but we're the first to fully integrate all three things.
-So we are a mobile-- -So that's your advantage?
We're a mobile production marketplace,
a recording studio, and a social network.
Our competitive advantage is really the relationships that we have,
the experience that we have in the music industry,
and we have a passion and a desire for what we do.
We've been building this for over two years now.
So do you pay for your beat?
-[Winston] Yes. -Okay.
It's a leasing platform.
So no beat in our platform goes above five dollars.
You wanna be the Instagram for recording, right?
Now imagine Instagram's thing was, like, "We're gonna charge people for filters."
-[Winston] Right. -What? For real?
"Yo. Black and whites, five bucks. Lease it."
Like-- And then they're out there--
If I don't lease it, it goes back to color.
Like, these big platforms told you free was the way.
-That's how you grow it. -Right.
We, as an industry, should own the platform...
Right.
...that's worth tens or 20-- hundreds of billions of dollars.
How much money have you guys raised?
[Erik] The whole app has been self-funded.
But we have participated in the Project Music accelerator,
and they gave us a little bit of funding also.
But the good thing about being a part of Project Music
is that they're actually supported
by a lot of the major labels and major publishers.
So Warner Music, Universal Music, and Sony Publishing
already have a vested interest in us
and are hoping that we succeed.
How much are you guys looking for?
650,000.
Seventy-five percent of that is going to be used
to market and promote the platform.
[Gary] So, guys, from my perspective,
Will is very obvious in his music connections.
This is a perfect example
where I just don't know the space super well.
So for that reason, I'm gonna be out, but good luck.
-Thank you. -Right. Right.
I'm really intrigued.
I just don't know how I can help you.
-I think Will should do it. -[Gary chuckles]
We think Will should do it also.
So I'm going to a no,
but only because I can't help you as well as Will can.
I'm gonna say no because I don't think I'm--
I could service you guys.
But this is really cool.
Thank you. Appreciate it.
I'm currently working on something...
in the same space.
[Winston] Okay.
-So wanna throw it out there. -Right.
So I'm just put in a predicament, like,
"Oh, shucks. I'm in music. I have to mentor this."
And I didn't want to come to the show and be, like, "the music guy."
-Right. -I have a hard time staying green
when I know I'm trying to solve it myself.
-[Winston] Right. -So I feel a little, like--
Like I said, Project Music chose seven companies around the world
to be a part of their accelerator,
and we were one of them.
We've been featured in Forbes, Inc., Billboard.
The list goes on and on. We have something.
So you-- Warners, Sony, and Universal.
I hope you're not just name-dropping.
-Nah. -Not name-dropping.
Not at all.
Okay. So...
-I love our industry. -[Erik] Mm-hmm.
And if all the labels have already invested in your thing,
I can't be the bonehead and be selfish
because I'm making my solution.
I can't do that.
So because of that--
For the industry!
I stay in. Here we go.
-[Gary] Yeah. -[Gwyneth] Wow!
-[Jessica] Nice. -[Erik] Word up.
-[will.i.am] So boom. So here we go. -[Gary] So boom.
[Jessica laughs]
[Winston] Thank you.
-[will.i.am] Tight. -[Erik] Man. That was tough.
-What's up, Will? -All right, guys.
-[Erik] Pleasure. -[Gary] Good luck.
-[Erik] Thank you. -Good luck.
That was way tougher than it should have been.
Way tougher.
[bell rings]
[man 1 speaking, indistinct]
[man 2] Advisors are clear.
[Zane] After proving to an advisor that their app was worth taking a risk on,
the developers now proceed to an accelerated incubation phase.
Their goal for the next six weeks will be polishing their pitch
before heading to the VC to ask for funding.
Since Will and his team are working on a similar app called Superdope,
he invites Erik and Winston to i.am+
to discuss what's next in their partnership.
So this is the app.
[mid-tempo instrumental]
[rapping] в™Є One, two Show you what I'm do в™Є
в™Є On the microphone Hit you with a few в™Є
в™Є If you call your crew All you m-- [bleeps] through в™Є
в™Є I threw a round at you Hit you in the esophagus в™Є
-[all chuckling] -Wait a minute. [indistinct]
I'm finished. I'm finished. I'm just gonna end it.
I'm just gonna end it.
I love what's going on. It's dope.
One of the things that I think we have that I don't think this app has
is that we let them share their creation across their other social networks,
but we also are a social network.
Do you envision what you've created becoming its own social network also?
Meaning do you have a social network component--
Just our feed, where users can discover other users,
producers can discover users, vice versa, type of thing.
Um--
-I do a lot. -[Winston] I can imagine.
So I had to figure out how to--
-What do-- What do I prioritize? -Right.
Or you just bring in a team that could come in and handle this for you--
RecordGram.
So--
-I like that. -That's the reason why I'm, like, okay--
We could work on that together, right?
Let's just... design around what you have
to get it through here.
Add some of those features that we have.
What's your vision for monetizing the app?
What we have that's sexy and fresh is there's no audio attachment
to get high quality performances from your phone,
for it to be compatible to the equipment here.
The processing is damn near the same.
But not the mic input.
You're giving the users a reason to go buy the hardware
because they need the hardware to optimize their software.
-[Winston] The hardware comes with-- -Because there's no mics--
There's no headphones that work best with awesome mics.
There's a lot of these things that's out there.
How are you different? Are you just hopping on the bandwagon,
or are you adding a radio to the wagon?
If it's just, like, an app for a phone,
and you compete with all the other apps out there,
good luck, bro.
RecordGram case with a awesome mic on it?
[Erik] Yeah.
We can-- We can do that here.
We're really excited to be partnering up with Will.
Software, hardware.
[Erik] So now it looks like we're building a hardware product with Will
to complement the software product
that we're also gonna be building with him.
So we're super excited.
-Boom on in. -[all laughing]
Boom on in. Let's do it.
[Winston] Good idea. Good idea.
[wind blowing]
[Zack] Right now, I'm certain of three things.
One, there's not enough time in the day.
Two, I'm not getting more than five hours of sleep every night.
And three, I'm living coffee to coffee.
I think there's a correlation there.
This new version of Afterbox is looking so good.
Got a whole bunch of stuff to show her.
Totally different than what I showed to the advisors.
So Afterbox is an online storage service for your meaningful data.
This is something that will outlive you.
Now, when a user opens the app for the first time,
rather than just be thrown with the login screen,
they're given a little tutorial.
I pulled an 80-hour week
totally redesigning the Afterbox UI from scratch.
I hope Gwyneth liked what I've done with the app.
I want her to say, "Wow."
It's very hearts and pink and lovey-dovey, so...
The reasoning for this was
I was trying to think of what's the exact opposite of death?
And that's happiness and hearts and love.
-Um-- -[Gwyneth] Right.
It is a bit girly.
And I understand the impetus behind wanting it to be light and everything, but
I think because security is gonna be
something that people are concerned about,
it looks a little bit...
like a toy.
The UX was horrible.
It was like some kind of weird dating site.
I don't know what was going on there.
This app has to achieve trust, sentimentality, connection, and gravitas.
And it just was not doing that.
This is a kid who's built this whole thing by himself, in a dorm room.
But just because I like Zack and I like his idea
doesn't mean that he's gonna get money from the VC.
I wish that it looked like it had a little bit more... seriousness.
You know what I mean?
Do you want some help from a graphic designer that I use?
That would be wonderful. Yes.
It sucks to have spent 80 hours working on this
just to have the design be scrapped and me starting from scratch.
I'm five weeks away from a pitch, and my app doesn't have a UI.
I might as well just not pitch at all.
[Zane] Erik and Winston return to i.am+
to learn about the progress Will and his team has made
with the hardware component for RecordGram.
There's two routes to go.
A case, um, and a headphone.
Nice.
This keeps in mind the microphone,
housing all the components on the bottom.
So this right here is speaker.
And that's the actual microphone?
So look. There will be an actual better mic there.
Crazy, man.
So that's one mockup.
[Winston] What about the headphone?
So we built a headphone that already has a 64-bit microphone on it.
-Right. -Right. Yeah.
It's a Lightning cable with all the controls.
[Erik] Nice.
I know it's all about creating that ecosystem around RecordGram.
RecordGram is the interface
for turning your iPhone into a professional studio.
Ching-ching!
Sounds good to me.
[Erik narrating] We're excited but a little bit overwhelmed.
We have to do a lot of research
behind the economics of the hardware component
and how it combines with what we have on the software side.
But I need this to work, because I haven't had a job since 2005,
and I've invested my life savings in this.
[Zane] Gwyneth enlists the services of renowned graphic designer Andy Goldman
to help Zack fix Afterbox's user experience.
So I guess we gotta tear this apart.
-[Andy] I love the idea. -Mm-hmm.
It needs to feel maybe slightly more neutral.
-Oh. -And that palette, I think,
comes a little bit too--
There's just too strong of a sort of color statement here.
The logo mark doesn't communicate that.
It seems too kind of playful.
[Zack] So change the font that I have for the logo?
-Yeah. -Okay.
Like, my dream-- And I don't know how we can figure it out.
But my dream would be that, like, you take a little stab at this.
[Andy] Uh-huh.
So he could present you with, like, a bit of a redesign.
Oh, I would be ever so grateful for that.
Yeah. Be happy to do it.
When Andy offers his services, there's a huge weight lifted off my chest.
He's definitely right,
but this is a lot of work that they are talking about.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of lines of code that I need to write
to tailor to his designs.
I don't know if I can get all this done.
I have this opportunity here, okay?
I might as well go big. I might as well take the risk
and ask maybe for some more money
to get the app running comfortably.
I really gotta polish up the app presented
if I am gonna be asking for more money.
We gotta figure this out.
Are we pitching a phone case or are we pitching headphones?
Or are we pitching both?
The VC pitch is coming up very soon.
We know nothing about the hardware space,
so we're kind of worried that we'll have it prepared.
[Gwyneth] How are you?
I'm well, albeit a bit stressed. New semester started.
I've really been hustling with Afterbox for the VC pitch.
I am so stressed,
between not sleeping
and staring at my computer for ten to 12 hours a day.
I don't know how much more I can take of this.
[Zane] After six weeks of accelerated incubation,
Afterbox and RecordGram head to
one of the world's premiere venture capital firms,
Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Lightspeed was the first investor in Snapchat,
and currently has over four billion dollars under management.
So, we're a few moments away from pitching, I guess.
Yeah. Don't be hindered by the fact that you're asking for money.
Ideally, we feel like we can work with $650,000,
but we don't know how much additional money we're gonna need
to accomplish the goals of actually executing the hardware component.
So, right now, we're gonna ask for two million dollars.
Um-- Which is definitely a little bit nerve-racking.
You guys ready to pitch?
-[Erik] Let's do it. -[Winston] Let's get this money.
[tense, pulsing music]
I'm Erik Mendelson, executive music producer, artist manager,
and the CEO of RecordGram.
And I'm Winston Thomas, aka DJ Blackout,
international DJ, Grammy Award-winning music producer,
and cofounder of RecordGram as well.
We're currently raising two million dollars.
Okay.
There's millions of people around the world
that have a burning desire to be an artist.
However, they either don't have access
to quality producers like Will and Blackout,
or they can't afford to pursue a career in music.
The solution to their problem is RecordGram.
RecordGram is an all-in-one mobile production marketplace,
a recording studio, and a social network app
that allows our users to create original songs
with award winning music producers, for under five dollars,
all from the palm of their hand.
Our users are able to discover beats that sound just like this.
[mid-tempo instrumental]
Now once our user has discovered this beat,
he can add his vocals to it
to create an original song that sounds just like this.
-[mid-tempo pop] -[man] в™Є You give me such a bad feeling в™Є
в™Є Take me high till I touch the ceiling в™Є
You like that.
в™Є I'm glad I have you in my life в™Є
[songs stops]
RecordGram breaks down barriers and empowers anyone,
regardless of where they live or how much money they have,
the ability to awaken their inner musician.
I was wondering, Will, when you're in the studio, making a new record,
and you want to get some new beat for some track you're putting down,
where do you actually get it from if you're not making it up yourself?
You're going on YouTube.
Or you're going on SoundCloud.
But to record your vocals, I don't know where you go.
There is-- You have to find a way to a studio
to finish and complete the song,
if you found the beat on YouTube or SoundCloud.
You couldn't just pop open Pro Tools on your laptop
and put a mic in and record over the beat?
From that perspective, that's like saying,
"Why don't people use Photoshop all the time and not Instagram?"
There is no Instagram for song making.
This is about democratizing
the opportunity to make music to more people?
Absolutely. We're both a marketplace and a utility tool.
Ideally, we definitely want to discover and curate talent from this platform,
and then take a piece of that revenue in the long tail play.
But initially, it's just for people who have a burning desire to be a musician
to create music from the palm of their hand,
which we believe is the future of music creation.
RecordGram is also entering the $120 billion phone accessory market.
I'd like to introduce you to
the RecordGram Buttons headphones
and the RecordGram phone case.
Both products come equipped with an enhanced studio quality microphone
that's never been seen in the market before.
The fact that you have a piece of hardware that's designed to work with this app--
Does that somehow gate the adoption of the app itself?
Do people say, "I'm not gonna use that app unless I have the hardware"?
[will.i.am] You can use the app without the hardware.
But if you want higher quality--
Just like any person that cares about their art,
they're going to invest in hardware.
The financials that you see before you
only include the first two revenue streams that I spoke about earlier.
So this projection says that in five years' time,
you're doing about seven in revenue and four in profit?
-Right. Right. -[Jeremy] Okay.
Again, this is somewhat outdated, but it's just based on the application,
not the entire ecosystem that we're creating.
What do you mean, it's outdated?
Like I said, we didn't factor in the revenue from the hardware component.
-Why not? -[stammers] Truthfully--
You don't believe in it, or--
Absolutely, I believe in it.
I just didn't have enough time,
between discussing it with Will,
to come on here and kind of just throw wild numbers at you.
I didn't want to be unrealistic with my expectations.
I think that my numbers are actually a little bit lower than they're gonna be.
Do you feel like this should have been fleshed out a little bit more
before you came and talked to us?
Perhaps.
-Perhaps. -I think so too.
[stammering] So here's-- Here's what is happening.
Calming the tension.
RecordGram is a great solution and a great path
on what the future actually looks like.
The studio is actually in your pocket.
This will happen anyways.
So... shame on them for a bad slide.
The reason why they're here is the two million dollars
will help them outfit them with a team,
which will change that graph significantly.
[Aaron] There's a separate point here.
Will this network create the next star?
-For that reason-- -That's the question,
not whether they're gonna make 93 million in five years.
My-- My question is not that.
I totally buy the vision. I think it's an extraordinary vision.
What I'm worried about is fiscal responsibility.
My fear is there's a lack of focus here.
I think you're trying to bite off a lot right now
by building a new social network,
by creating a two-sided marketplace
where we buy and sell beats.
Not even to further complicate it by building hardware
and by potentially other content deals.
If you were to choose just one,
between building the social network,
building the marketplace,
and building the tools,
which one would you choose?
We're a market network.
So we bring producers and artists together to create songs.
But then we also give them the access and the ability
to share those songs on our social network.
So we're definitely not a non-focused company.
Everything that we're doing is synergistic.
And we have a complete go-to-market and branding strategy
behind what we're doing.
We don't want to necessarily be a social network,
cause it's an extremely competitive space.
There's other social networks out there that are doing it extremely well.
But what they're not doing is they don't have the utility, um,
for artists and producers to collaborate and create music.
[Aaron] They have a core idea and a core thesis here
and a vision of the future,
which I believe we look for in venture.
Their unique vision on the world is we need to democratize
how music is created.
This could be the future of where talent is found.
We should let the kids have the opportunity
to create content and get the distribution
in an easier way than it is now.
This is actually one of the things that I love about this business,
is that you come in, you see their vision,
and it changes your mind.
And Erik and Winston,
I feel like you guys just have music running through your blood,
which, you know, we love.
We love at Lightspeed to see authentic entrepreneurs.
And it really demonstrated to me
what I think could be a really big business.
So I agree with Aaron.
Many of our most successful investments have been controversial decisions.
Yeah.
And if we have people on the investment team
that are pounding the table, saying, "This is a big opportunity,"
and we believe in what these guys can do,
then we should give them that opportunity.
Well, I think this is binary.
But I think that it could potentially be a big opportunity.
So-- If you guys are pounding the table,
I think we should do it,
but we should do it at terms that make sense for us.
[Aaron] Guys, I think what we've heard is an incredible story.
I think we're at the moment
where we could see an entirely new way in which people create content.
I think with the existing app, as built today,
plus the relationship that you have with Will and others,
we need to give you a check that helps you turn over that card
so we can learn what's really possible here.
We'd like to offer you
half a million dollars for ten percent.
Is there any type of leeway or negotiation
between the ten percent at all, or--
Maybe providing a little bit more capital for us, um,
to help execute some of the marketing strategies that we have,
or are you guys hard pressed about the dollar?
What's your proposal?
My proposal is 650 for ten percent.
[Aaron] If we keep the 4.5 pre,
and we give you the 650K, how do you feel about that?
-So the valuation stays the same. -Right.
But we give you the check that you asked for.
I think we'd be stupid to pass up the opportunity to work with you guys.
-So we have a deal? -[Winston] Yeah. We have a deal.
[Erik] A hundred percent. Thank you.
-[Winston] Thank you so much. -[Aaron] Absolutely.
[Winston] Thank you so much.
[Erik] Thanks, Jeremy. Really appreciate it.
[Winston narrating] The future is very bright for us. I mean--
We sold one of the biggest VC firms.
We have will.i.am on our team. We have headphones coming out.
[Erik narrating] Celebration for us is getting on a flight back to Miami,
going to hug our kids.
And, uh, getting back to work.
There's no celebration. No time for that right now.
[tense, pulsing music]
[Gwyneth] Hi, guys.
-[Aaron] How are you? -[Alex] How are you?
I want you to meet my good friend Zack.
Hi. I'm Zack Banack. I am the founder, CEO, and lead developer of Afterbox.
My ask is $250,000.
Afterbox is a storage service
to house users' meaningful and sensitive information--
such as pictures and video, passwords, PIN codes, notes,
and even legally binding wills--
too often lost over time and through death.
Let's take a look at the application itself.
Convenient drawer organization.
Afterbox is very tidy and organized.
Tap on a piece of content you want to store,
and take it from there. It's simple.
This is a good-looking app. The design here is terrific.
Did you do this?
No. I created an initial version, which was not that good.
Gwyneth brought a wonderful designer, Andy Goldman, on board,
and he was really able to create a nice balance.
Now, users invite guardians, trusted friends and family,
to safeguard this data.
Guardians will only inherit the contents of a user's Afterbox
in the event they pass away or are in a dire emergency.
Also, there are multiple ways to define death in this application.
We're not tapping into any public records.
It's kind of up to the user.
So the most common way is that there's an unlock duration,
meaning that if you are not active in the application
for a certain amount of time--
First of all-- Let me stop for a sec. You're awesome.
-Thank you. -From one chubby guy to another.
I'm a huge fan.
Let me just put that out there.
-Yeah. -Yes. You're rad.
Two, this feature scares the [bleeps] out of me.
-Okay. -If I don't sign into Facebook for a week,
and my mom gets an e-mail that says, "Your son died"--
No. There are fail-safes.
-It's just pretty scary. -No. There are fail-safes.
They will get a notification saying,
"Hey, so-and-so hasn't checked into Afterbox for a while.
Do you know if they're okay or not?"
Phrased in a polite way.
Kind of reassuring, like, "Hey, do you know if everything's up?"
The consequences of getting this wrong...
-[Zack] Yes. Are huge. -...are pretty severe.
-You traumatize your entire family. -[Aaron] Exactly.
They think you're dead.
And then they all get a bunch of information
that you kind of wanted to keep private.
-Yes. -[Alex] Right.
So it's pretty high stakes. You gotta get it right.
We do have to get it right.
I'm a former CTO.
-I have... some fear here. -Yes.
Because it's so personal.
It's different if you're storing a photo of my kid when he was one
that I'd want to show him in 20 years.
It's very different if I store passwords or secrets that--
Definitely.
Can you talk a little bit about that?
Yeah. I'm a computer security major in school.
I am no professional. I'm still studying.
I know that security is only as strong as its weakest link.
But, uh--
We want to convey the sense of security, um,
by allowing users to choose
what data they store on the cloud and what they store locally.
Security will never be 100% patched up.
There's always gonna be flaws. And it's a constant battle.
I was very struck with this idea,
having lost my father when I was 30.
This is such a beautiful opportunity for somebody to upload
not only the details that you need, really, to sort of get through, you know,
when you're 30, for example, and planning your father's funeral
and trying to piece together all of the mysteries--
But that human element of, like, somebody taking a minute to think,
"You know, maybe I will upload this poem that I wrote
that I don't really want anyone to see, but I don't want it to be lost."
And if I had been able to experience that of my father after his death,
the impact would have been unbelievably immeasurable to me.
So this app has a lot of heart and a lot of humanity.
I feel very, uh,
empathetic with the problem that you're trying to solve right now.
But the product just didn't feel quite right to me.
It felt like it was 15 degrees off of true north.
So that's something I'm struggling with.
[Nicole] Jeremy, I share your concerns.
I still, Zack, was wondering about the business model.
The who and the when are question marks
that remain unsolved in my mind.
Yeah. I think, as I said before, uh,
I see a younger version of myself,
not just because we're both round, in you.
Uh--
The fact that you have the passion, and also the presence that you have,
I think is unique
and one of the characteristics we look for in a founder.
Yes.
I think there are challenges with the model, but I like you.
I mean, look. He's 20 years old.
He's been in his dorm room.
He's been missing parties.
He-- Every time I reach out to him,
he's in his room, recoding, and, um--
This is why he needs some money.
I mean, he--
With a bit of capital and guidance from you guys,
he can fix the product, he can implement your ideas,
he can really focus on monetization and what is the best strategy.
And I really think he's an amazing person,
and I think he deserves a chance.
This really puts us in a bit of a quandary.
-Because we don't just invest in people. -Yeah.
We invest in people behind an idea that we believe in.
And right now, we don't believe in your idea.
Zack.
I don't think capital is the answer to your problem.
For more than ten years,
Lightspeed has run a summer fellowship program
for students who are trying to start a new business.
And I'd like to extend you a Lightspeed summer fellowship
to come work with us so that we can help you refine your idea.
$30,000. No equity.
It is a grant,
a scholarship to help you build this into a better business.
One of the key drivers behind this decision
was Gwyneth's belief in you.
She spoke so strongly of what you have done
that even though we had questions about the business,
we wanted to find some way to work with you
to really get you on the right track.
Do you accept our offer?
-I accept your offer. -Oh, my God! That's so sweet!
Oh, my God. That's great.
-Thanks, you guys. -[Jeremy] Tremendous.
-I'm really looking forward. -Thank you very much.
It's gonna be fantastic.
[Jeremy] Thank you so much.
Life is so short, and I'm just so glad I was able to take this opportunity.
And I'm so glad the opportunity presented itself.
Excited to spend the summer with you.
-Yes, I know. That's exciting. -It's gonna be great.
If my friend Matthew, the inspiration behind Afterbox,
were here to see my success,
I know that he would be proud of me,
just knowing that I can carry on his legacy through this application.
Even if it just affects the lives of a handful of people,
it's worth it in the end.
[Gwyneth] I actually think this is kind of, like, amazing.
[Zack] I think this could actually turn out better
-because we can go through refinement. -Yes.
[Zane] Now's your chance to create your own tracks using RecordGram.
You can also look for Afterbox
and all of the apps featured on Planet of the Apps
on the App Store.