GetYourBizSavvy had the opportunity to interview Tim Westergren. Tim is the founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Pandora.
Here is how Tim describes Pandora: “Free personalized radio that allows you to create personalized radio stations by typing in the name of a song or artist you like. It connects that input to other songs based on its musicological content, so it relies on this enormous hand-built database that we have been putting together for the last nine and a half years, and continue to work on …we actually have a team of musicians, about fifty of them, working on this now, taking songs one by one and scoring them along 400 attributes per song. It’s like collecting musical DNA.”
Tim was in bands and wrote music for films prior to founding Pandora. His idea for Pandora was influenced by his experiences while playing in these bands and the hopes he had of “getting noticed.” He was also meeting a lot of other talented musicians during this time who similarly were looking to “get noticed.” He became interested in finding a way for these talented individuals to gain popularity. Later, during his time as a film composer, Tim gained an interest in musicology and the concept of matching music with people’s tastes. Thereafter, he put an idea together using technology and the web to make what Tim calls “a recommendation tool,” which would help people learn about independent music. He explains that this eventually turned into a playlist. When we asked Tim about his experience of bringing Pandora to the web and taking it to where it is today, he explained: “It’s a step by step process.” Pandora did not actually realize that they could use their idea as a radio on the web until about 4 years into their project. Tim stated: “We created a website, built a front end, tested it out, and let it go out on the web. And then it took on a life of its own.”
For those of you that do not already know, Pandora released its application to Blackberry’s about 2 weeks ago. Pandora is already on the iPhone and other devices as well. We were interested in learning about Tim’s experience during the whole mobile phase. “The iPhone was the real big hit for us. We launched that about 8 months ago and it’s been just an incredible catalyst for us in a lot of ways. It has dramatically accelerated the rate of new listeners on Pandora, but it’s also been a catalyst for people thinking about internet radio differently, or realizing that you can take this iPhone and plug it into the car or dock it in your home stereo…it’s really opened up a whole new world of listening for us.” Tim is very excited about what is going on with Pandora in the mobile world, and he told us that it really has taken Pandora to another level. As for what is to come with Pandora and the Blackberry, Tim sees similar results to the iPhone.
Pandora is doing very well during this economy, so we found it appropriate to ask Tim for some recommendations. Tim details, “If you have a website that gets along with advertising, you’ve really got to have a platform that works…you have to have an advertisement that people actually look at.” As for Pandora and their success, Tim says “Our product really works, the platform really does generate the kind of activity that advertisers value.” Pandora is the only thing Tim is working on right now and all that he really has time to do. But don’t worry; Tim still finds time to play music although he was inactive for a while.
So, what advice can Tim give you? Pandora describes Tim as an award-winning composer, an accomplished musician and a record producer with 20 years of experience in the music industry. After our interview, we can say that Tim is a very intelligent individual who has taken his love and experience in music and turned it into a wildly amazing concept. The advice that Tim has given is great. It is especially good for those people who think they can do it all themselves.
He advises: “I really think that this isn’t something to do alone. If you’re thinking of starting your own business, I think it’s very advisable to find someone to be your partner, at least one person if not more than one. Find someone whom you trust like a brother and someone whose skills really compliment yours…Lastly, don’t be self-conscious about being an entrepreneur!”
That was Tim Westergren of Pandora!
