Black Founder: The Hidden Power of Being an Outsider
by Stacy Spikes
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The Net-Net
Black Founder: The Hidden Power of Being an Outsider is the entertaining, fascinating, and inspiring story of Stacy Spikes, co-founder of the notorious movie subscription company MoviePass. Through stories and anecdotes from his wide-ranging media and entertainment career, Spikes provides a candid look at entrepreneurship from the perspective of an “outsider”—in Stacy’s case, as a Black founder—making the case that maintaining ownership of one’s work and ideas is essential to achieving the empowerment and agency necessary for entrepreneurial success and fulfillment. Spikes’ easy-to-read, yet powerful storytelling will leave you on the edge of your seat as he shares his most memorable and impactful encounters with the who’s who of media and entertainment, from Queen Latifah to Michael Jackson to Tom Cruise and many more.
Top 3 Insights
- There’s no substitute for ownership and control over your work. Spikes started his corporate media and entertainment career at Motown Records, where he heard firsthand the stories of Black artists and creators who had been taken advantage of by their record labels—producing hit songs and records with little to show for it. Decades later during MoviePass’ downfall, Spikes himself experienced what it’s like to have ownership of your work diluted and your voice crowded out by those in control. Spikes emphasizes the empowering impact of obtaining and maintaining the full rights to one’s work and ideas and urges entrepreneurs to strive for nothing less.
- “Failure” is just another word for learning. Spikes speaks candidly about his career’s lowest moments not only to allow others to learn from his mistakes, but also to shed light on the peaks and valleys that characterize any entrepreneur’s journey. Spikes is adamant that every failure and the lessons he learned from them were essential to his path to success. Spikes’ optimism and willingness to persist through failure and adversity is underscored by his favorite motivational mantra: “Don’t quit before the miracle.”
- Strong mentors and networks are powerful forces—and powerful motivators. Spikes’ writes a lot about the mentors who supported his early career, such as Motown executives Oscar Fields III and Clarence Avant. It’s clear that Spikes not only learned a tremendous amount from these individuals, but also carries a deep sense of indebtedness to those who supported his journey. Acutely aware of how his story as a Black founder fits within a longer tradition of Black success and excellence, Spikes is deeply motivated by those who came before him and equally determined to create opportunity and success for those following in his footsteps.
Actionability
Spikes does provide a few tips regarding interpersonal interactions and relationships that can be easily put into action by readers—he evangelizes handwritten thank-you notes, for example—but the book is relatively light on tactics. That said, Spikes’ emphasis on the importance of ownership as well as his perspective on failure serve as helpful pointers for anyone creating content or setting out on a new venture.
- Write a thoughtful handwritten thank-you note.
- Reach out to a mentor I’ve lost touch with.
- Encourage my work team to speak more candidly about our failures and mistakes.
Good Stories
Spikes’ memoir is a masterclass in telling impactful and memorable stories that bring to life the unpredictable, chaotic, occasionally star-studded life of a media and entertainment entrepreneur. Many of the stories Spikes tells are remarkable enough that you’ll be eager to share them with others, and all of them are either extremely entertaining or effectively illustrate one Spikes’ perspectives and beliefs—and many stories are both. Black Founder sets a standard for what other business authors should aspire to in their storytelling.
- Spikes getting stuck in a broken elevator with Eddie Murphy.
- Robert DeNiro inviting Spikes and his wife to his vacation home as he considered an investment in MoviePass.
- Spikes’ Urbanworld Film Festival distributing tens of thousands of flyers with an embarrassingly wrong phone number.
Key Quotes
- “I have been considered an outsider my entire life, whether it be for my race, my industry, or my ideas. But if I was not an outsider, I would not have some of the views that are critical to our success in the market. In particular, we were building a company [MoviePass] from the consumers’ perspective. We were neither theater nor studio. We were just movie lovers.” (163)
- “The greatest lesson I learned from Clarence is that I had a responsibility to add to the legacy of Black success. He wanted me to always remember that if I was given the chance to play on the field as an executive or a creator, it was because I was standing on the shoulders of so many who got me there. And he instilled in me that I had a duty to give back and create space for others.” (38)
- “At that moment, I decided I never wanted another person to have control over my destiny. If I was going to fail, I wanted to fail trying to do what I wanted to do. Life is hard enough, so I may as well live my days following my dreams and trying to make a difference in the world in the way I believed I could best serve it.” (97)
If This Were an MBA Class, it Would Be Called:
Entrepreneurial Ownership and Control: How to Grow And Scale Your Business Without Sacrifice
Best For:
- Entrepreneurs
- Content creators
- Anyone who identifies as an “outsider” in their industry
Can’t get enough? Consider:
- Stacy Spikes on the Fearless Authenticity podcast
- MoviePass, Take Two! – A profile from The New Yorker on Spikes and his effort to bring MoviePass back.
- Air (Amazon Prime Video) – Recommended by Spikes himself as a great lesson on ownership of one’s work, Air is the story of how Nike beat Adidas, Converse, and others for Michael Jordan’s first shoe contract.
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