Miami-based entertainment executive who is the mastermind behind some of music’s biggest producers, including the multi-platinum Monsters & Strangerz and Latin GRAMMY Award-winning and GRAMMY Award-nominated Tainy, with whom he – four years ago – co-founded NEON16, a media and entertainment company that was voted the number one Most Innovative Music Company in 2021 by Fast Company. My guest has been included in Billboard magazine’s “Latin Power Players” list this year and their “40 Under 40” in 2020. His first documentary series was the most-watched, non-scripted show in Latin America on Disney-plus and one of the four most-streamed series in the United States.
“Our success has really come from identifying problems and coming up with the best creative solution while being culturally relevant.”
“We’ve been able to work with global brands like the NFL and Red Bull Racing and Shark Ninja and so many others.”
“Whenever you’re not just thinking about the financial benefit of a deal that you’re doing or, especially because we’re in a creative industry, you then allow yourself to be free to create without any limitations, and I think that’s where the biggest success comes from in music and film and TV and brands, it comes from not having any limitations and really breaking those walls.”
“Sixteen is really meaningful because it was the age I started in the music business.”
“I had just come from running Roc Nation for (Jay-Z).”
“The majority of my genius ideas or the vision that I have is usually rooted at the fact that I want to do something better for humanity.”
“I think when you identify problems and you feel that you can create the solution, it’s usually where the big business idea comes from.”
“I always say an artist has his colors, and his colors are usually its identity, right? Like what they’re talking about, their subject matter, their sound, their production, and then you have these points of connectivity, which is what really connects them to their audience, so, their interests in fashion, their interests in sports, their interest in video games, whatever that is.”
“When I studied creatives that I admired like Walt Disney or Steve Jobs, I think one of the biggest things they identified right away was, to win in business, you’ve got to create an ecosystem that allows you to be the one-stop machine that no one else has.”
“One day I was lucky enough that an A&R (rep) from Badboy Records heard my music and introduced me to Puff (Daddy). And he bought my first production.”
“I had a lot of success moving to L.A., a lot of success moving to Toronto, and then back to New York for Roc, and then back to Miami, so, I was blessed to, again, notice the changes of the tides as the music industry shifted from New York to L.A., as the music industry shifted from L.A. to kind of the outbreak of Canadian hip hop and R&B in Toronto.”
“If you’re doing things within the intention of helping people, you find purpose.”
“I think people think that because you’re successful, life gets a lot easier, and it doesn’t.”