Why Musicians Make Great Executives

Matt Stinchcomb humbly shares that his band, French Kicks, never got massively famous but he concedes that as far as bands go they got pretty far. They went European tours, on late night TV and performed in front of thousands of people. He is proud of that time but has no regrets about his path since then - helping to get Etsy off the ground and leading their values and impact team. Both careers have been rich in purpose for him.

Aaron Hurst: How did that transition happen - moving from being a musician to Etsy?

Matt Stinchcomb: While I was in the band, I started to design our own merchandise. I really enjoyed doing it. And other bands liked the stuff that I made. They said, “hey, could you make a t-shirt for our band?” And I was like, “sure.” You know, why not? I started doing that enough and I was like - there’s a business here. I was living with Rob Kalin, the founder of Etsy at the time and we were like, “let’s turn this into a business.” We got investment from a neighbor who would end up being one of the first angel investors in Etsy. But he owned the restaurant, and he gave us money to buy a press, and gave us space above his restaurant to set up a print shop.

Aaron: When you think back on your experience playing guitar for the French Kicks, what were the purpose moments that remain with you?

Matt: I think my greatest memory as a musician was when we were truly playing beautifully together as a band. And just that energy is really palpable and amazing. I just—I had these moments that are almost ecstatic on stage where it’s like, wow. I feel so connected to these people. We’re achieving something that’s just aligned together. Those are some of the greatest memories I have of being a musician.

Aaron: Do you ever have those moments at Etsy working in an office?

Matt: There are moments where things are really clicking. I felt that at times when we’ve been drafting the mission language and you get into this rhythm with people. And it starts to all just like click together and make sense for sure. You know, it didn’t happen a lot with the band even though you could go out and execute a song perfectly. You know? It’s different. It was rare.

Aaron: What is the “music” you are creating at Etsy?

Matt: The mission of Etsy is to re-imagine commerce in ways that build a lasting and fulfilling world. And like that’s really lofty when you think about like just completely changing the way that business is done. But that’s the higher purpose that I’m working towards.

Aaron: Did you get that same sense of purpose playing guitar - that you were doing something greater than yourself?

Matt: That first moment when you were producing music together that feels beautiful to you. I felt like I was part of something bigger, that I was just contributing my little small piece to this thing.

Aaron: Etsy’s mission is lofty and inspiring. What are the regular moments of purpose that sustain you between the big “ecstasy” moments at Etsy?

Matt: I’m very lucky to work with a lot of people who are passionate. So, I’m always feeling very grateful when someone’s really excited about their work. We’ve just got the results from the well-being survey and found that around 91 percent of our team feel values alignment with the company. I was really excited because people are caring about the work that we’re doing.

I sometimes have these moments where I’m thinking about how interesting and surprising my life has become - the people that I’m meeting or the things that I’m doing and the things I’m talking about. I was like, wow. I can’t believe this is actually me.

Aaron: Do you find that there are barriers to your growth and fulfillment of purpose at work?

Matt: I’d say if there’s anything that challenges me at work, it’s my own fears and insecurities. You know, why would anyone take me seriously? I had a conversation last week with a coach that we have at Etsy. He made me realize that it was just my own fear. He showed me some ways that actually I was really having impact on things. And it was really affirming.

Aaron: That is really hard. I suspect we all have those nagging voices in our heads. Facing our fear is such a key part of growth and personal purpose. Did you have similar growth moments with the band?

Matt: You’re actually very well suited for the corporate world, I feel, after a life as a musician. You learn how to deal with difficult situations and people. You learn how to be patient. It’s intense to be in band with really old close friends. You’re always travelling in a small van together. You’re away from your girlfriends. You don’t have any money. You’re exhausted because every night you’re up really late and then you have to drive all day.

Aaron: That is a striking similarity. Bands and start-ups share that personal intensity and intimacy. Were there any other similarities you found in the early days?

Matt: I learned a lot about the business of trying to succeed in a really crowded industry. Right? There’s a lot of bands out there. I didn’t study traditional marketing. When I was running marketing at Etsy I wasn’t going to go buy an ad because like, that seems like a real waste of money. I’ll do what we did the band which was go and build local audiences and build community and go town to town.We travelled around. We organized meetups. We created grant to support the community. And that’s really how the company grew.

What's your purpose?

To learn what drives purpose in your career, visit Imperative and generate your Purpose Pattern and Purpose Statement.

Photo credit: French Kicks, Etsy