This is a really inspiring video of Shepard Fairey recounting his overnight success, 20 years in the making. I remember spotting Andre the Giant has a Posse stickers popping up at our skate spots in the early ’90s. So cryptic, yet memorable.
There are a ton of great quotes in here, but one really jumped out at me. As he was describing the balancing act of being an underground street artist and a commercial success, he says:
“things need to accrue cultural currency, then they can bring you actual currency”
I think that’s true of art as well as technology and the ventures we fund. Often companies get mocked for having large and active user bases with little to no revenue to show for it. I think that social currency is much more valuable than the naysayers and their mocking “eyeballs” lend credence. There’s a time and place to add revenue to the mix, but social currency is something that can’t be timed or premeditated. And will often accrue in the most unlikely of places.
video via PSFK
