Ahhh… It’s always refreshing to come across great business wisdom from the likes of Hip Hop mogul, Jay-Z. In a recent Forbes interview, Jay-Z sat down with Warren Buffet to exchange success strategies, life lessons and business tips that all entrepreneurs can benefit from.
While these two extraordinary men both have valuable information to share… the guy who pulled himself out of the Brooklyn projects to become one of the most successful recording artists of all time- deserves a special pulpit, all to himself to share the business lesson he’s learned along the way.
BrandMakerNews presents Jay-Z’s ten most compelling bits of business wisdom, as shared in his interview…
1. Find Your Own Truth
“For me, it’s that truth, finding the truth of the moment, of where I am at the time, not trying to cater to a certain demographic or being something I’m not. For me, it’s just having the discipline, and the confidence in who I am.
If I go into a studio and find my truth of the moment, there are a number of people in the world who can relate to what I’m saying, and are going to buy into what I’m doing. Not because it’s the new thing of the moment, but because it’s genuine emotion.
2. Don’t Stray From What Made You A Success
“My first album didn’t come out until I was 26, so I had a bit more maturity… I had so much wealth to share with the world at that time, and I’ve never forgotten those things. You never forget those true things that you stick to, your basic things that make you successful.”
3. Make A Decision And Don’t Look Back
“I started out listening to music early on, and I would just write. I had a love for it from there. It just got to a point where it was, like, ‘Make this decision, because this is something you really love and you love to do. It’s time to really focus on and then get serious about it, give it your all.’ And once I did that, it was no looking back from there.”
4. Allow Your Work To Grow With You
“People that listen to hip-hop when they’re 18 listen to it when they’re 28. It’s just that the voices of hip-hop are not speaking directly to them anymore. Or weren’t. They’re speaking to an 18 year old. I’m not going to do that anymore. I’m just going to make the music I love to make and I’m going to mature with my music. Luckily for me, it was the right decision.”
5. Don’t Shut Down Your Great Idea Just Because Someone Doesn’t See Your Vision
“At Def Jam I wanted to bring the entire culture into it… I wanted a fund so I could do other things aside from signing artists. I don’t think at that time they could really get their mind around that. It’s not something they were willing to do. I just felt like I would be a waste there. So I started my own thing, Roc Nation, and that’s what we do.”
6. Embrace Change
“One of the biggest things in business is to open yourself up for change. We don’t have to change who we are, we have to change the way we go about it.”
7. Over-Deliver On Experience
“I just believe in giving people a better package so when they leave the concert hall, they want to come back again. A lot of people make that mistake when they’re hot. They just sell off the name and sell off the moment. We’re over-delivering on the experience.”
8. Find A Cause You’re Passionate About And Give From The Heart
“I’m not just sitting home, writing a check to make myself feel good. It’s something I really want to do, and I’m into it and excited about it.”
9. Lead By Example
“The first thing for me is to lead by example and show how these things have an effect on people’s lives in a real way. I know there is a future generation of stars in my old neighborhood that we must help out, to become what they could be if given the opportunity.”
10. Aspire To Inspire
“I hope to inspire. I guess Obama took this thing already but just the hope of how far we can make it and the hope in knowing how far you can go from where you started if you really apply yourself and stay true to who you are.”
For more business wisdom from Jay-Z, and invaluable insight from Warren Buffet, read the full interview here.
Also check out… Will Smith’s Success Secrets and The Business Wisdom of Steve Jobs