SGN founder and executive chairman Shervin Pishevar is an entrepreneur’s entrepreneur. Back in 2008, he shared a semi-lucid and beautiful post about entrepreneurism that he emailed to friends during a trip to Eastern Europe.
Then, late in 2009, he found himself wandering through Europe as part of one of Dave McClure’s Geeks On A Plane adventures. After an evening at the BetaHaus in Berlin, Germany, Pishevar put on his iPod and stumbled across Jay-Z’s song “A Star Is Born”. Inspired, he set upon a creative mission: to create a cover version that captured the spirit of Silicon Valley and entrepreneurship.
After penning the lyrics, Pishevar took advantage of the services offered by GreetBeatz, a startup that lets you contract professional rappers to sing anything you want (he paired up with Thunda). And thus Silicon Valley’s rap anthem was born.
Of course, not every entrepreneur is successful with their first startup. And it appears that they don’t always nail their first rap song, either. As you watch the clip below, you may well get the urge to start giggling, perhaps with a cocked eyebrow as you try to get a handle on what you’re watching. It’s a lot to take in, with everything from The Fonz to cameos from James Hong, Phil Kaplan, Joe Greenstein, Joe Green, and Saar Gur. And then there’s the babies. Lot of babies.
I’m not entirely sure what emotion Pishevar was trying to elicit, but he sure made me smile (and cringe). But even if it’s pretty clear that he should stick to his day job, by making this video Pishevar has shown what Silicon Valley is all about. He’s cultivated an idea from lyrics jotted on a piece of paper into a full fledged music video. He channeled his passion to make something. Plus, he gets bonus points for including the Fonz.
Now say it with me: Platform. Platform. Platform. H-ayyyyy.