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Recently I sat down with Nick Holmstén, former Global Head of Music at Spotify and founder of TSX Entertainment. We’ll be releasing the full conversation on the podcast soon, but I wanted to share some powerful lessons from what was a masterclass in business from one of the heavyweights.
Who’s Nick?
Nick Holmstén helped architect one of the biggest shifts in music history: turning Spotify from a “search bar for songs” into a cultural engine powered by playlists. Before that, he navigated Sweden’s piracy-plagued music scene, launching a startup that eventually led Spotify to acquire his company, Tunigo. He later led global music at Spotify and co-founded TSX Entertainment—a massive Times Square experience redefining how artists connect with fans.
Nick blends product intuition, cultural foresight, and fan-first marketing with a no-BS approach. He’s not just a music industry veteran—he’s a pattern recognizer at the edge of what's next.
Key Takeaways for Builders & Founders
Start with the moment
Spotify's playlist model wasn't born from genre—it came from context: “What music do people want at the gym? On Sunday mornings? At a house party?” Contextual thinking changed the UX of music. Apply that thinking to your own product—what moments are your customers in?Build your first 1,000 fans, not your first million users
Algorithms follow traction, not the other way around. Nick’s advice to new artists? “You're responsible for building your first 1,000 fans. That’s your job.” Same goes for startups: prove love first, then scale it.Fans > Consumers
“If you call them fans instead of customers, your entire marketing strategy changes.” Nick’s Fan Power philosophy reframes the brand experience. It’s not just about product—it’s about belonging.Be relentlessly human
The top artists today don’t hide behind mystique—they connect with raw authenticity. Vulnerability isn’t a weakness; it’s a moat. Whether you're selling software or storytelling, customers crave connection.There are no shortcuts
Spotify almost went bankrupt four times. Tunigo got ignored until it exploded. “Most people give up too early,” Nick says. The lesson? Build your belief system so deeply that criticism doesn’t rattle you.
The Story Behind the Playlist Revolution
In 2009, playlists weren’t a thing. People searched songs by name, genre, or artist. But Nick saw what others didn’t: context was the future. So he built Tunigo—a playlist engine that thought in moods, not metadata. Spotify took notice and brought him in. That insight—that people don’t just want content, they want it framed in emotion and timing—reshaped not only how we listen to music but how we design for discovery.
Spotify now serves billions of streams based on context. What’s the equivalent of that in your business?
Try This: Fan-Focused Brand Sprint
This week, ask:
What does our customer really want to feel when they use our product?
How can we become an excuse for people to gather, connect, and express something?
What would change if we called our top customers fans instead?
Your next breakthrough might be one fan, one moment, or one belief away. Stay focused.
– David
From the bd podcast
“AI is not going to replace a Chief of Staff, but a Chief of Staff who knows how to use AI will replace a Chief of Staff.” — Clara Ma, Founder of Ask a Chief of Staff
Clara shared how her journey from Chief of Staff at Hugging Face to founder of Ask a Chief of Staff revealed the critical, often misunderstood value of the CoS role—and how strategic delegation, community, and leveraging AI can supercharge executive effectiveness.
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