Jeffrey Katzenberg says Hollywood and venture capital have one big success factor in common.
“Storytelling is literally fundamental to every business,” Katzenberg said on an episode of the “Logan Bartlett” podcast released on Saturday.
“That’s the one place where those 45 years of experience actually have direct application to doing this,” Katzenberg said about his time in filmmaking.
Katzenberg served as chairman of Walt Disney Studios for 10 years until 1994 and cofounded DreamWorks after his departure. As DreamWorks’ CEO, he oversaw the production of hits like “Shrek,” “Madagascar,” and “Kung Fu Panda.” He stepped down in 2016 and cofounded VC firm WndrCo with former Dropbox chief financial officer Sujay Jaswa in 2017.
Jaswa was also a guest on Saturday’s podcast and talked about the duo’s partnership. WndrCo’s investments include Databricks, Deel, and Figma.
Katzenberg said that storytelling is essential to every step of the startup journey, including convincing people to work for a nascent company, persuading investors to write checks, and pitching new customers.
“Sitting with a founder and actually going through their sales deck with them and helping them frame it, perfect it,” in under 30 minutes, the VC said, “it’s an art and a science.”
Katzenberg said that Hollywood’s culture is very different from Silicon Valley’s. For example, failing doesn’t have the same “stigma” in Silicon Valley as it does in movies, TV, sports, and music, he said.
“Hollywood, it’s a black eye, it never goes away unfortunately,” he added.
In 2018, he teamed up with former eBay CEO Meg Whitman to launch Quibi, a short-form video streaming service designed for people to enjoy shows on their phones. The platform raised nearly $2 billion before Quibi even launched, but shut down only after six months because of an underwhelming lineup of content and poor marketing.
On the podcast, Katzenberg called Quibi a “big swing and a miss” but added that Silicon Valley understood that “you can’t hit a home run if you don’t swing for the fences.”
“I’m OK owning my failures,” he said.
Pivoting or branching out into investing has become a popular playbook for many in the entertainment and sports industries.
For celebrities, it’s a way to diversify their wealth or support causes they are passionate about. For startups, being backed by a household name helps attract other investors and customers.
Celebrities, including actor Ashton Kutcher and rapper Jay-Z, have launched their own VC firms and invested in notable companies, including Airbnb, Uber, Spotify, and Robinhood. Tennis champion Serena Williams and NBA stars Kevin Durant and LeBron James have also invested in food and tech companies through their VC firms.
