One of the most crucial leadership traits that set great leaders apart from average ones is the ability to inspire. There are many admirable bosses, but very few leaders can infuse their actions and behaviors with energy, passion, and connection, along with a crystal-clear vision, mission, and commitment to integrity that guides them in everything they do to improve the world. And one such inspirational leader is Colin Fitzpatrick, Co-Founder & CEO of Animal Concerts.
Colin has always had a wide variety of passions, namely music and technology, which is perfect for his current line of work. He spent a significant amount of time as a DJ in his 20s, and still has a deep love for electronic music. The inspirational leader has always been a big technology fan and a bit of a nerd.
When Colin discovered cryptocurrency in 2016 and properly understood how the blockchain and bitcoin are going to revolutionize the monetary system, he was hooked. He longed to work in the space, but not much was happening in Dublin, and the Covid/Zoom culture had not taken off yet. However, when he came to Dubai, the Crypto community here was incredible and really inspired him to explore possibilities.
The tech leader has 20 years of experience in multinational software companies like Salesforce, Oracle, HubSpot & Dell across roles around sales, business development, marketing, and programs. Colin relocated to Dubai when he was given the opportunity to transfer out to build a new business for Oracle. He has always wanted to run his own company and be an entrepreneur but never truly thought it would actually happen.
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I went on a journey of personal development and discovery that really helped me to evolve and become the person I am today.
When the versatile entrepreneur first learned about crypto, he was passionate about this transformational technology and naturally told all of his friends and coworkers who he believed would comprehend it. Because of this, Colin introduced many more into the space, who also became equally fascinated. He had so many people from the sales floor in Oracle into it that, at one stage, there was a lot more crypto trading going on than there was selling software!
“One of the people I introduced, we were discussing the market and spitballing some ideas. It was mid-lockdown, and everything was moving online, including concerts – so it gave us the idea to try to do concerts online with A-list artists to an almost unlimited audience online, and also in the Metaverse. This was a year before Mark Zuckerberg renamed Facebook to Meta and solidified with everyone that the Metaverse was the future evolution of the internet,” shares Colin.
He further adds, ”Back then, when I was talking about the metaverse, people looked at me like I had two heads! We were also fascinated by the concept of NFTs – but more than just what people see as very expensive monkey jpg’s – but their ability to solidify ownership of digital assets on the blockchain, and allow membership and access to be part of a special community. So with these concepts coming together, Animal Concerts was born.”
A Next Generation Platform For Live Events In The Metaverse
Animal Concerts is building the next generation of live events in the Metaverse. Colin and his team are revolutionizing the music industry for fans and artists worldwide: delivering unique, physical concerts with A-list artists, collaborating on NFT drops, live streaming in the Metaverse, and tokenizing that entire experience! They are working with Snoop Dogg, Alicia Keys, Billy Ray Cyrus, and Robin Thicke, with many more to be announced this year.
By making concerts accessible to everyone worldwide, they are democratizing the concert experience. No longer do you have to be the lucky one to see your favorite band in a city close by and score one of the few tickets left; everyone can now enjoy the experience. Additionally, Colin and his team also add value by shooting some concerts in 3D so everyone can enjoy this immersive experience with friends from all over the world and feel like they are dancing on stage with their favorite musician from the comfort of their own home. Furthermore, the versatile leader and his team help A-list artists navigate the journey into Web3, hand-holding them through the process while giving them full control over their brand and image.
“From what I have seen, everyone in the entertainment industry is getting bombarded by everything Web3, NFT, and Metaverse, but these are musicians and artists, not technologists, and they need someone to help them from start to finish. We are also upping the game as we are creating content and IP with partnerships with these artists. We actually own part of the song called Hard Working Man by the Avila Brothers featuring Snoop Dogg and Billy Ray Cyrus. Content is going to be the most important part of the Metaverse – and this is where the real value lies. I see many people building great technology, but there isn’t much to bring people in. The Metaverse needs attractions and utility to bring in the masses and become mainstream,” shares Colin.
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Stop thinking, wondering and making excuses, just start doing something, and build from there – and this always stood with me.
Outstanding Team = great success
The inspiration leader Colin believes that his team is the main driving force behind Animal Concerts’ success. Many of them have years of expertise in the music and entertainment business, and the majority of them are from Los Angeles. Tom Fanning, one of his company’s founders, has been making music videos for 20 years and has collaborated with Biggie, Tupac, Britney, and Beyonce.
Then there is the executive producer of the song “Hard Working Man” is Bernard Alexander. He has been in the music industry for 30 years, and during that time, he discovered the Fugees, Akon, and produced Nas and 50 Cent’s debut albums. He’s now a close friend of Colin and keeps exposing them to outstanding talent so they can produce more content.
“It’s these amazing people and their connections that lead us to being able to secure deals with Snoop Dogg, Alicia Keys and Robin Thicke, and we have so much more to announce this year, including legacy artists who we will be bringing back to live in the metaverse!,” says Colin.
The Secret Ingredient
In addition to all the other obvious qualities like hard work, passion, strategic thinking, and adaptability, Colin believes that being likable is an underappreciated quality in the business. All his team, he thinks that they are a really nice, cool and likeable bunch – and people notice and say this a lot – and want to work with them.
Of course, that comes on top of a foundation of competence and the capacity for action, but that’s who people want to work with. People do business with other people, so it is crucial for teams to function harmoniously. Colin and his team have declined lucrative business possibilities because they didn’t enjoy doing business with those involved. It pays to be nice.
Defining Moments
When asked to share the defining moments in his life that caused him to focus on personal development. Colin states that his father encouraged him to read all the best-selling books, which sparked his interest in personal development. When he first started his job and faced the obstacles of working in huge corporations, he began to explore deeper and embarked on a journey of personal development and discovery that aided him in evolving and becoming the person he am today.
Colin also found it really beneficial to gain confidence in his abilities and really got head first into coaching, presenting, and speaking, which has served him really well, especially recently, having to present at so many conferences and events all over the world, but also conducting the roadshow and presenting to hundreds of investors and was very successful in raising money for the business.
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I’m also an advisor to several projects and always looking for more exciting startups to work with.
Key Milestones
Under his leadership, the Animal Concerts team is launching its first NFT Drop on OpenSea called A Hard Working Man featuring Snoop Dogg and Billy Ray Cyrus. Snoop Dogg just tweeted his support for Colin and his team and this project which was an amazing feeling. They are doing a metaverse concert with Robin Thicke and, then, an NFT drop with Alicia Keys, then a metaverse fashion show with Balenciaga.
Along with this, they are also releasing their app – which is a video on-demand (VOD) platform with the watch to earn built in – think TokTok meets Netflix for Music – where people can earn Eniaml tokens for engaging with the content. They are announcing their metaverse technology enables them to host a concert in their metaverse or any other – including live events transformed into the metaverse with motion capture in real time – which is very exciting. And Animal Concerts is expanding into sports, movies, and even comedy – really anything in the metaverse.
Projects in Pipeline
Colin recently started a podcast, called the Web3 Leaders Podcast and invited key people in the industry, to hear from them and get their opinions on things like NFTs and the metaverse. They were a big hit, so he decided to do more. Colin recalls, “When at an event in Miami, I was on a panel with Scott Page, who was a band member of Pink Floyd, Toto, and Supertramp. A veteran of the rock and roll industry, but he’s incredibly knowledgeable about NFT’s. He came on spaces, and it was brilliant he spoke about NFT’s being about storytelling and digital freedom; the community loved it.”
He has already got founders and executives from companies like Sandbox, OpenSea, Decentraland, Somnium Space, Blocktopia, and Gala Games, as well as some amazing web 3 leaders from established companies like Google, Coca-Cola, Accenture, Cap Gemini, and more!
A Special Advice
Being a seasoned entrepreneur, Colin gives some advice: “So whether you are still in school or just in a rut with your career, Just do it! Take the plunge, take the risk, and do something different, because nothing great ever happened from doing the same thing every day.”
