I was a junior at Forest Hills High School when Guns N Roses released Appetite for Destruction. About 6 months later, Sweet Child O’ Mine hit the radio waves and I was hooked. Back then, as a Metal-head wannabe, I could not afford to admit to liking them without risking outcasting. After all, the proper namedropping included icons such as Metallica (Oey Vey) and Ozzy Osbourne (have mercy). Still, these new guys with this new sound were so charismatic I just had to buy the album. Less than a year later GnR were packing stadiums all over the world and got classified as Bon Jovi’s angry rival. It seemed like a pretty comfortable position to be at and the release of the half baked, mediocre 8 track GnR Lies reinforced that impression. I almost lost interest, but then, three years later, came Use Your illusion I and II and instantly blew me away. Wow! what a masterpiece! It was evident Guns weren’t just a successful rock band, but much more - real superstars, the stuff legends are made off.

I could go on forever about Guns and Roses. To me, they were the best of their era and in many ways still are. If you happen to disagree, just listen once more time to Axl’s unique style in Sweet Child, or to the back to back solos by Slash in November Rain. As a matter of fact, GooTube, sit back and rejoice.

Guns were not a VC production. Slash and Axl had their own bands prior to being hooked up by a mutual agent. They have toured (and trashed) L.A. bars with very little success before Tom Zutaut of Geffen Records signed them to a $75,000 record deal. I am not familiar with Mr. Zutaut, of course, but I doubt he had Axl pitch his go to market plan or Slash prove Guns could out duel Bon Jovi. I don’t think it’s was the resumes that did it either. Axl was 21, Slash was 17, neither of them has done much before to show for. And to top it all, they were a risky play in a risky market. You would agree that a rock-punk-blues-trash band with two savage, ego-maniacs filled with testosterone is not the safest bet on earth. How could that compete with Metallica’s genuine fan base or with Jon Bon Jovi’s million dollar smile?

So why did Geffen sign Guns? Very simple, really. Their outstanding star quality was so obvious it was a crime not to. They were passionate, talented, charismatic, with outstanding presence. They refused to play the game; they drank and smoked in their video clips and they ended concerts prematurely when they didn’t appreciate the crowd. They insisted on (and got) absolute creative freedom, a prerogative which they exploited to the full extent and which resulted with 200 full house concerts and over 70 million albums sold. Oh yeah, Guns were a great exit for Geffen. They were the YouTube comparable.

Start ups and rock bands are more similar than different. While not everyone is Guns and Roses (or YouTube), startupists are star hopefuls hopping between auditions looking to get discovered. There is no recipe that defines a star, you either have it or you don’t, but this doesn’t mean it’s easy to get discovered. You need to be in front of the right people, at the right place and at the right time. You need to work extremely hard, be extremely motivated, be very talented and have quite a bit of luck. You need to rally the crowd behind you - be it A&R execs or investors, fans or users, Rolling Stone or TechCrunch. You need to be true to your own faith and desire but be extremely open to your environment. You need to be ready to perform in front of an empty bar when needed and not give up, but you also need to know when it’s time to sign a talent deal.

Start ups are not about presenting a plan, they are about star quality. You can’t expect to spell out where you want to be in five years and why you will be the one getting there. And if, as a startupist, you feel like you are being overly pushed in that direction, just move over to the next scout. Don’t practice the ”pitching to VCs 101″ manual because it’s useless, it won’t help you. The investors don’t believe in that manual either.  

At a certain point, if you have that star quality, the right scout will come along and recognize it, pick you up and hand you the opportunity. While good scouts are as scarce as stars, once in while they all get aligned.