Jacob Evan Smith interviews Erik Torenberg, co-founder of Village Global and former founder of rapt.fm. They delve into the lessons learned from startup failures and the importance of perseverance in entrepreneurship. Erik discusses the societal misconceptions around lifestyle businesses and emphasizes the need to separate personal identity from company identity. He advocates for tackling challenges that seem easy to yourself but hard to others, and discusses the value of giving in networking without expecting returns. This conversation is rich with insights for aspiring entrepreneurs.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Erik's Wrapped FM Startup Story
Erik Torenberg started Wrapped FM from a freestyle rap hobby and won a startup weekend with a live rap battle app idea.
They got a $25K investment and moved to Detroit but the product eventually didn't scale.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Separate Passion from Career
Separate your passions from your career to preserve sanity and avoid over-identification.
Not all businesses need to be venture-scalable; lifestyle businesses can be profitable and fulfilling.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Creative Revenue with Rap Training
To sustain Wrapped FM, Erik creatively got Quicken Loans and other companies to pay for freestyle rap training.
This unconventional revenue helped the team survive for two years but wasn’t their long-term plan.
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In 'Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World', Adam Grant delves into the creative process and the mindset of individuals who challenge the status quo. The book discusses how originals manage risk while following their vision, the importance of quantity over quality in idea generation, and the role of procrastination and strategic timing in creative output. Grant also addresses how to communicate original ideas effectively, deal with emotional turmoil, and instill originality in various contexts, including business and child-rearing. The book challenges common myths about success and creativity, offering practical advice and anecdotes from historical figures and contemporary examples[2][4][5].
Venture Deals
Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist
Brad Feld
Jason Mendelson
Venture Deals provides insights into the venture capital process, demystifying term sheets, valuation methodologies, and negotiation strategies. It emphasizes building strong relationships between entrepreneurs and investors, offering practical advice on fundraising and legal considerations. The book is a valuable resource for anyone involved in venture capital financing.
Erik was interviewed by Jacob Evan Smith (@jacobsmith88) at Venture For America in Detroit, which is where Erik attended the University of Michigan before he started his live rap battle app, rapt.fm.
In this episode he talks about founding and running rapt.fm, why it didn’t work out, and how he ended up joining Product Hunt before co-founding Village Global.
Erik explains why it’s not important that entrepreneurs get it right the first time, but instead that they don’t stop trying.
He talks about why lifestyle businesses are unfairly looked down upon in startup world, the usefulness of failing, and why you need to keep your identity separate from your company.
He also talks about why you want to do things that seem hard to other people but easy to you and why when building a network you should give without taking, without thought of what you might get in return.
Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform.
Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.
Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global, is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg and is produced by Brett Bolkowy.
Village Global Podcast 
