Daniel Ek – The Future of Audio – [Invest Like the Best, EP.147]
My guest this week is Daniel Ek, the founder and CEO of Spotify.
In my conversations with Daniel, I’ve found him to be one of the most
interesting and thoughtful business leaders in the world. You’ll see what I
mean as you listen to our conversation.
We talk about Spotify plenty, but what I so enjoy about Daniel is his way of
thinking in systems and frameworks. He is committed to evolution, innovation,
and growth for both himself and for Spotify and is on my short list of CEOs to
emulate.
This was one of my favorite conversations on the podcast, I hope you enjoy
it.
Show Notes
1:21 – (first question) – Management lessons from a Dubai chocolate maker
4:54 – Trends shaping the business landscape today: globalization,
automation, and digitation
7:51 – How he thinks about the vertical integration of his business and
scale
10:37 – Are companies doing a good job adjusting to the changes in the
global business landscape
14:44 – How does Spotify view scale moving forward
17:59 – What trends has he seen among creators as a result of the Spotify
platform
20:32 – The community benefit that has been created by the platform
23:47 – Intimacy of audio
25:31 – Creating an environment that continues to spur innovation
29:12 – Star vs constellation business strategy
32:21 – Measuring network health
35:12 – Spotify Originals and what his competition in the video market is
doing
39:36 – How podcasts play into the growth strategy
43:04 – How did he solve the problem of competing with free
47:21 – Is their strategy repeatable, going after fractured suppliers
49:02 – Role of the CEO in a startup
51:22 – Others who have taught him great business lessons
53:18 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Daniel
