What I Learned About Startups from The Beatles

On my travel Sabbatical, I took a much-needed break from reading business books, and even as I’ve started working on a business the last few months, I haven’t really gone back.

Seriously. A book about The Beatles.

Some context. This is the first of three books Lewisohn plans to write about The Beatles. This volume explores how the Beatles became The Beatles. Their lives and career leading up to stardom. And Lewisohn goes into tremendous detail. How their families came to Liverpool. Their parents’ lives. Each Beatle’s childhood and adolescence. All the formative experiences that made them John, Paul, George, and Ringo. And it ends December 31, 1962, after they recorded their first #1 single.

Taken another way, this book is about how they co-founded one of the most successful entertainment businesses of all time, chronicling their journey to the point where they finally broke through.

My first draft of this post included 7 lessons. I’m condensing it down to three to share with you here.

Early on, and for longer than you’d think, The Beatles weren’t very good. They struggled for several years to book gigs and build an audience. Their equipment was cheap, their technique unrefined, and they were often nervous on stage. Stories of their early gigs are frequently hilarious and often cringe-inducing.

Their first big break — a season of gigs in Hamburg, Germany — only came because a promoter’s other four options were unavailable. The season was pivotal. Hundreds of hours of dedicated practice on stage in Hamburg transformed The Beatles into an electrifying and unique live act, and a few months later, when they returned to Liverpool, they were suddenly the best group in town, if not the entire country.

But even a couple years later, when they finally caught the attention of record labels, they bombed their auditions. It took time and several lucky breaks to secure a contract. And even then, they needed several sessions in order to make a competent record.

Put yourself out there and be willing to fail and learn. Don’t expect to make masterpieces right away.

The Beatles were first and foremost fans of rock n roll. As teenagers, they spent hours and hours in record stores listening to the latest releases from America, finding records to buy (or steal), along with memorizing songs to play at home. Forming a band was a natural progression from their genuine love of this music.

At the same time, it’s surprising they ever made it. I was shocked to learn how many times The Beatles very nearly broke up during their early years, but it’s understandable given what Lewisohn shows us up close - a bleak picture of the 1950s and 1960s music industry, with impossibly long odds of making a living, let alone becoming stars. The life of a rock musician was difficult, unglamorous, and hardly lucrative.

It was ultimately the love of music that kept the group together. Often the reasons for staying were simply that they couldn’t imagine doing something else.

Pursue something you’re passionate about, because it’s going to get tough, and the chances of failure are higher than success.

Once The Beatles secured a recording contract, their label wanted their first single to be “How Do You Do It,” a song the label owned rights to. The Beatles hated the song, and wanted to record an original instead, which was unorthodox at the time. Lennon and McCartney wanted to establish them as performers and songwriters, but they cooperated and the group recorded it.

But they immediately regretted it, fearing the song wasn’t right for their brand. It didn’t sound like The Beatles, and it sounded too much like groups they didn’t like. After wrestling over what to do, they decided to risk their contract, and protested to the label. The label acquiesced, and instead they released an original, “Love Me Do,” as their first single. The record proved them right. It was a hit, established The Beatles as a band with a unique sound in Britain, and furthered their momentum not only as performers but also songwriters.

Define your principles and stick to them. Build the kind of product and business that you want. And be willing to fight for what you believe in.

If you’re curious about the other four lessons I learned from the book, let me know in the comments. Maybe I’ll write a vol. 2 and vol. 3, just like Lewisohn 😃

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