Troy Carter

“I said, 'Who said African American founders can't build a billion dollar company?'”

“When we're looking at strategic partners, it may be that they're larger partners or big corporations or start-ups. But, when you look at Gilt and places like Amazon and Starbucks, they're all places where it's a lot of foot traffic or digital traffic.”

“With what Enrou was doing with helping women and taking products from local marketplaces, we thought it was really great.”

“Mattel stepped up and changed the face of Barbie. Barbie looks a lot different than she did decades ago. Or even three weeks ago.”

“I bring in the record label who distributes the music.”

“Now we know that if we make a ten min video for YouTube, people will watch it.”

“She was a performance artist calling herself Lady Gaga, who had a European dance-club sound and pop-star aspirations - elements that historically haven't mixed.”

“When I first got pitched on Uber, I thought it was the dumbest idea ever.”

“I grew up carrying crates of records for Will Smith and those guys.”

“The only two things that ever came naturally to me are music and investing.”

“The primary plan is to let the music speak for itself.”

“When we look at transportation in America, there's going to be companies like Magic Bus, where you have these private bus fleets. You're going to have carpooling; you're going to have these different types of transportation. It's going to be a full ecosystem, but it's not going to be a winner-takes-all.”

“It isn't that every company is going to be successful. The law of averages shows that 80% of companies are going to fail.”

“I like to compare the attitude and energy of an emerging start-up to that of the early hip-hop era. From working at labels like Bad Boy and Ruff Ryders, walking into the Def Jam offices, A Touch of Jazz and things like that, the vibe is that off making something out of nothing and making things work, and that's what I love about start-ups.”

“I come from a place where when you shake someone's hand, it is a deal.”

“The way consumers interact with music is different now. It's not an albums business anymore; it's a singles business again, and the industry has gone through that before.”

“People are experimenting with streaming, with subscription services, whether it's a Spotify or a Pandora or a Rdio.”

“Backplane will provide a platform and tools for communities to socialize and communicate on a more focused level.”

“There was a time when radio stations wouldn't play Gaga's music because it was considered dance. Outside of live performances, the Internet became our primary tool to help people discover her music.”

“As important as hustle is, grit and resilience are equally as important because there's a lot of rejection in our business.”