Lay it on thick

While in business school I spent a fair amount of time thinking about how businesses can have a uniquely positive impact on their communities, without necessarily being nonprofit or social enterprises.

“Thick Value,” a phrase frequently used by Umair Haque, a favorite and most influential thought leader out of Harvard Business School, captures this well. It is the idea that businesses need not only be profitable, or of value, in the financial sense, but must also provide meaningful and sustainable value to society as a whole. From my perspective, thick value is essential to success in the long run.

I was reminded of the notion of thick value when I met yesterday with Ariel Hyatt, founder of CyberPR. I had seen Ariel speak at the Future of Music Policy Summit, and then met her briefly at the SoundCtrl Music-Tech meet up during the CMJ Music Marathon, but this was the first time time that I had the opportunity to sit down with her and see first hand just how visionary and potentially disruptive her platform actually is.

Unlike the traditional fee-for-service approach to PR, which is predicated on ‘buying access,’ Ariel created an online, technology-based PR platform that actually facilitates relationships between artists and the media. The platform, as well as the abundance of educational podcasts, e-books and blog posts throughout the site are designed to empower independent artists to optimize their own public relations, rather than reinforcing dependency on third party gatekeepers.

Her site is incredibly comprehensive, elegant and well thought out. I had to pick my jaw up off the floor a few times while she was demoing it for me. I can only imagine the tremendous amount of mental, emotional and financial investment that has gone into developing it. I have no doubt that ultimately its value to independent artists and musicians, as well as the fans who would have not otherwise been exposed to them, will be exponential.

This is thick value at its core.