Three years ago I had big visions for what Flashband could become. I had experienced the frustration of finding like-minded musicians who had that perfect mix of complementary skill level, commitment, creative interests, and instrument type - and I was certain that many of the millions of musicians in the US shared my frustration. While we're not at millions yet, many of our users have told me that Flashband has truly changed the way they experience the musician community.
The trials and tribulations of growing Flashband did not change my vision - but it has been a lesson in the difficulties of starting and scaling a business. Flashband provides a valuable service - helping musicians of all backgrounds meet and play music - but it's not one they are used to paying for. We've managed to pay the bills just through show revenue and musician participation fees while we figured out a model that worked - but only by keeping the bills unrealistically low. Neither myself nor either of my co-founders have taken any money out of the business to date. Flashband has the potential to be a productive, self-sustaining business at scale, and we've proven that we can provide a service that our customers value. To get to scale we need to spend a lot of time and resources spreading the idea and bringing more musicians into the community. This investment lets us do that.
We will be investing this money in three big areas:
- A 6 month project to turn the Flashband website into a fully functional, scalable, stand-alone service for running events and allowing musicians to connect independently.
- Growing the DC-area community significantly, doubling our size in the next 6 months.
- Starting new Flashband chapters in 6 new cities and creating processes so we can continue to do that across the country.
For all of this, I need your help. A bigger Flashband community means a more valuable community to you - with more musicians we can do more diverse events, and you can find the right people to connect with.
If Flashband has brought value to your life, or you just think the idea is cool, help us spread the word about this announcement and about what Flashband means to you. We're running a celebratory deal all this week - every new account on the website gets free participation in an event, and any existing member gets $20 off if they upgrade to a Backstage membership. Share the announcement (email, or your social media of choice) with a story of your experience with Flashband and get the musicians you know to join us: https://flashband.org/resources/index/seed-funding
We also recently launched the Flashband Street Team - if you have a little time and interest and want to be rewarded and recognized for helping out, head over to learn how to sign up. And lastly, we are hiring for two positions, a musician recruitment and marketing coordinator and a full-stack Java/Grails web developer. If you know anyone that would be a good fit (or you think you would) check out the job descriptions for how to apply.
If Flashband has brought value to your life, or you just think the idea is cool, help us spread the word about this announcement and about what Flashband means to you. We're running a celebratory deal all this week - every new account on the website gets free participation in an event, and any existing member gets $20 off if they upgrade to a Backstage membership. Share the announcement (email, or your social media of choice) with a story of your experience with Flashband and get the musicians you know to join us: https://flashband.org/resources/index/seed-funding
We also recently launched the Flashband Street Team - if you have a little time and interest and want to be rewarded and recognized for helping out, head over to learn how to sign up. And lastly, we are hiring for two positions, a musician recruitment and marketing coordinator and a full-stack Java/Grails web developer. If you know anyone that would be a good fit (or you think you would) check out the job descriptions for how to apply.
For all of you that have been a part of the Flashband community so far, THANK YOU for helping us to get to this point. Your interest in our mission, your participation in our community, and your responses to my constant requests for feedback are what allowed us to get to this point. I'd also like to thank my team: my co-founders, Caleb and Amanda, who put in countless hours building the Flashband website and hosting the first meet-and-greet jams at their home; Cody, who's been running our events for the past year; and Ariel, who is our newest event coordinator. Lots of volunteers have come through - too many to name here - but thanks also to all of you that have helped me learn and put in time helping us grow.
Here's to playing more music in the months and years ahead.
Here's to playing more music in the months and years ahead.
Neal
P.S. This pretty much sums up how we feel:
P.S. This pretty much sums up how we feel:
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