Episode 186: Fyre Festival PART 2 (feat. Billy McFarland)

We have the legendary Billy McFarland on the pod today. Some of you might know of him from organization the disaster known as Fyre Festival which also featured his business partner Ja Rule. His finessing and him misleaing investors and concert goers lead to him catching federal charges and serving a few years in prison. He's back to tell all about his time planning the festival and also calls out Ja Rule for a Fight.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(01:32) Billy McFarland recaps the early parts of his career by selling software to record companies.

(03:15) Billy was given a $100k check with no paperwork to start a social media website.

(14:14) Billy creates Magnises, a credit card similar to a American Express' “black card”.

(18:57) Billy was using Magnises to start funding Fyre Media Inc. and this is where things start to crumble.

(26:13) Billy would take artists and his employees to the Bahamas to do death defying stunts. 

(34:07) After so many people wanted to join Billy on his trips to the Bahamas, he realized this could be a business opportunity aka Fire Festival.

(44:40) Billy lost sight of reality when trying to plan for the festival and was not able to provide what guests expected.

(51:48) Billy McFarland calls out Ja Rule for a boxing match in order to pay back workers in the Bahamas. 

(01:01:11) The previous 2 weeks before the festival was supposed to occur were the worst 2 weeks of Billy’s life.

(01:09:45) When did Billy realize he was going to prison for fraud?

(01:14:58) How was Billy’s experience while being incarcerated?

(01:21:02) Billy wants to create Fyre Festival 2.

(01:29:46) Is Billy addicted to dopamine?

(01:32:13) Billy shares his thoughts on A.I. and its impact on the music industry.