you are what you do
i grew up (ages 1-7) in the mall behind the reception counter of my mom’s nail salon. she would parade me in front of her patrons until i was old enough to perform kid songs on my own for money to spend on arcade tokens. i can still remember the smell of nail polish and acetone.
in 6th grade, i had a color printer, a 56k modem, and more freedom from adult supervision than my children ever will. and as most curious, prepubescent 11 year old little boys would have done, i printed “special” full page fold out calendars for my friends to enjoy—at $10 a pop.
when i was in 8th grad, my buddy Ify and I didn’t have enough money for the bus ride home, so we walked across the street to the local hospital to ask people for quarters. as we were waiting for patients to reemerge into the waiting room—few carried loose change or wallets for that matter under their pocketless hospital gowns, an oversight on our part—Ricki Lake suddenly came back from a commercial break on TV to announce the death of Chris Farley, my then childhood hero. years later, i learned that he died of an overdose of cocaine and heroin. my love only deepened.
it’s not about being famous, it’s about pushing culture forward—and to do that, you need everyone’s attention.
you are what you do—be free to be ridiculous.
let go and grow.
community—
http://online.wsj.com/video/creative-living-spaces-in-former-warehouses/6EBD9884-DE2E-4300-89D7-C7219A2CD834.html
http://pitchfork.com/forkcast/15265-shooting-holes/
http://pitchfork.com/forkcast/14936-when-you-sleep-my-bloody-valentine-cover/
technology—
http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/08/12/damntheradio-launches-ups-the-ante-on-facebook-branding/
http://www.techcrunch.com/2011/01/18/2-million-fanbridge-damntheradio/
music—
sounds i’m exploring:
www.soundcloud.com/johnnyhwinformerly bass guitar in live outfit for:
http://www.blackbirdblackbird.com/tunes i’m digging:
www.hypem.com/johnnyhwin
a bio—
Johnny Hwin is an electronic music artist and technology entrepreneur. He was most recently co-founder and CEO of damntheradio, a Facebook marketing platform that has powered promotional campaigns for artists such as Lady Gaga and The Black Keys, and brands such as Wrangler Jeans and Gatorade. damntheradio was acquired in January 2011 by email marketing startup FanBridge (investors include SoftTech VC, Lowercase Capital, 500 Startups, First Round Capital, Founder Collective, et al)—6 months after launch.
Prior to damntheradio, he studied social psychology and technology entrepreneurship at Stanford University, where he launched his first company from the Stanford Facebook App Class (recently profiled in the New York Times), a viral quiz platform that grew to 15M users and was sold in 2009. A former course instructor in Stanford’s Technical Communications Program, he has lectured at UC Berkeley’s Haas Business School and the University of Montana’s School of Entertainment Management.
He currently spends his energy advising startups, working with startup incubators and community spaces such as IO Ventures and The Happiness Institute, and building a community of creators in his San Francisco Mission District based underground warehouse space, affectionately dubbed The SUB.
