He's back at it! Humbled hip hop mogul, Damon Dash, is trying his arm as a tech entrepreneur with his MySpace clone, BlockSavvy. Now..........I'm somewhat conflicted. On one hand, I love Dame's attitude. He's a go getter for real! Super Super-ego, extraordinary creativity, mega street smarts, and the corporate swagger to make things happen.
However, "you're only as good as your last trade". Let's take a look down memory lane and review his track record.
Roc-A-Fella Records (Dec. 04): Sells for $10M (plus $22M contract reup) to Island Def Jam Records. Good money! Although, Dame only gets 1/3 or ~$10M.
RocaWear (Sept. 05): Sells to Jay-Z for $30M. Good money, but it's gotta hurt to sell your shares to your ex-partner! Especially when Jay turns around in March 07 and sells RocaWear for $204M. I'd be pi$$ed!!
Pro-Keds: Did a respectable ~$22M last year.
Damon Dash Music Group: Done! (At least the website still works.) Why is it done? Because the "music business isn't so profitable". It took Dame 10+ years to figure that out?
Dash's C.E.O. clothing line: Hasn't launched yet. Apparently, the logo is too big and even a buyer for Dr. Jay's sent Dame back to the drawing board. Done!
State Property clothing line: Beanie Sigel's line. Nuff said. Done!
Wife Rachel Roy's clothing line: Less than Dash-ing! Not profitable, done!
Dash-DiBella Promotions: I told you before, boxing is dead....with or without Dame. Done!
Reality TV show, The Ultimate Hustler: I can't hate. I personally hand delivered my audition tape to Dame outside of 105.1's radio station, but that's another story. Anyway, his loss. Good thing I didn't make it. Poor ratings, horrible reviews, little creativity, low value......done!
Dash Films: No website.......you don't exist. I don't care if you did The Woodsman starring Kevin Bacon and Mos Def. That was 2004 and I'm not sure how many people have seen or heard of the movie. Done.
America Magazine: It's here, but takes me to The National Catholic Weekly. Maybe Dame has a new religious hustle. Say it with me........DONE!
Tiret watch: Well, at least Michael Jackson is forking over $87k for a watch. If only everyone was like Mike.
Armadale Vodka: Well, I've never seen anyone pop a bottle of Aramdale in the club. Having said that, it did get a good review. Jury is still out.
So that brings me to BlockSavvy. Even after all the failures, this has some hope. Now, I HATE clones. Especially clones that have not one iota of originality. Blocksavvy is different. It has a specific niche audience (young, "urban") and has applications that cater to their specific needs.
I signed up and was pleasantly surprised with the richness of the graphics (3D rendered) as well as as slick interface and ease of use. It's based on the .Net platform, but it's Dame's first tech startup. He doesn't know any better.
Anyway, I really like the fact that users earn SavvyDollars for interacting with the site and with the community. These SavvyDollars can be used to purchase actual items.....items that reflect the niche audience's interests and needs. To me, this is the key to Web 2.0 (I hate myself for using that term).
Is Blocksavvy going to sell for $580M like MySpace.....absolutely not. But Dame only has ~$1M into the project and hopes to make 10x. In the current capital market climate, that shouldn't be hard at all.
"I'll be validated in technology. People will have to notice me." - Damon Dash
Slow your roll. Damon, even if you do sell for $20M....that does not make you a tech genius. Good start, but a Mark Zuckerberg you are not. (Damn, it hurts me to say that).
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