Protege a platform,
creating a stage for aspiring musical artists to showcase their talent
in front of industry experts, raising 8.5 million
in a seed round
the startup saying its mission is to democratize access to dream careers.
And joining me now is Jackson Jin A Ceo and co founder of Protege.
Jackson, thanks so much
or coming on this show as to your company here,
described as a platform for american idol meets project runway meets shark tank.
So elaborate on what your company is giving these aspiring artists access to
Proteges a platform where you can send your talent
to anyone in the world.
You have 60 seconds to send a video
to the best experts in each industry
and and send it to people who otherwise would have been inaccessible.
This is giving hope, This is giving opportunity and access
not only to people in the entertainment industry,
but people across the world.
How do you have access to the top dealmakers? The top decision makers
out there. Is it, is it a catalog, a catalog of content? How does that work?
Yeah, that's exactly right.
So you can go to Protege dot com, send your music to people like DJ Khaled,
you can send your singing to scooter braun, legendary music executive,
you could send your acting monologue to Jason alexander
and place George Costanza in Seinfeld.
These are all different people available.
They're at different prices ranging from anywhere from 10 to $200
and you can interact directly with them and get guaranteed feedback.
So how is the application fee determined? $10-$200 is a pretty wide range,
The experts set their own price. So it depends how in demand they are.
Um but there's what's great is there's a price point for everyone,
whether you're just starting out,
looking to get some advice on your
singing from legendary vocal coach Conrad Robinson,
famous for your coaching, Alicia Keys and her,
whether you're trying to get yourself in front
of DJ Khaled or legendary music producer Mustard,
you know,
there's a different price for everyone and everyone has an opportunity
to get some critique and get access to life changing opportunity.
Okay, Jackson, So here's a question for you.
If you pay the application fee, are you guaranteed feedback from these stars?
That's right.
You're guaranteed feedback and depending on the person,
they send it in anywhere from 2-5 days.
If you don't get your feedback then, you know, you get your,
you get a refund and you never get charged.
What's great about this is it's really only um you know,
charging people who get connected.
So what's the feedback mechanism? Is it a video for instance that George Costanza
will leave
the applicant or is it written feedback?
It's a video from
George Costanza, Jason alexander himself,
it's a video where they've taken time to listen to your talent
and are sending you their thoughts, their reactions in some cases like Bebe Rexha,
she will even collab or remix or change up some of the
melodies and sing it back to people and help them improve their music
pretty amazing.
You raised 8.5 million in a seed round, how are you gonna use that money to expand?
We're excited to expand into many industries, way beyond entertainment.
If you think about it in any industry
where there is a subjective assessment of talent,
that means there's gatekeepers who hold the keys to success
and if you don't have
family connections, you don't come from the right background, good luck
trying to meet those people.
What's great about Protege is now you can send
your talent to them directly for the first time.
We're, we're excited to expand um not just in entertainment, but also in things
like content creation, Tiktok Youtube into areas of business investing,
internships, jobs,
there's all sorts of places where mentorship can change your life.
We're excited to host those on Protege.
So here's another question, Jackson,
I think what might be a game changer for some people to,
if they're deciding whether or not to pay
this application fees? Certainly, feedback
is great, but what about a potential job, is that an option here? If scooter braun
likes your singing, of course the manager of Justin Bieber and others,
is there a chance you could start working for scooter braun,
one of the most famed managers out there.
That's exactly right.
The beauty of Protege is now you're in these people's rolodexes
and if they need a backup singer, scooter braun is trying to create a new boy band,
DJ Khaled needs a beat for his new album.
Jason alexander might be casting a new show. These are all things and opportunities
that today will be given to people in their insular networks
for the first time. Because of Protege, they can reach out to a diverse audience
from people all over the globe and really find hidden talent and
hidden gems from, from all walks of life.
All right, Jackson, I hope you'll come back on the show joining
from Chicago where my alma mater is, Northwestern University always have a spot,
A soft spot for Chicago.
We appreciate it. He's the founder of Protege.