Do you know any celebrities who have managed to build successful tech startups?
This topic came to my mind after I saw an article about Selena Gomez being sued in connection with her mental health startup.
I think Hollywood stars, top athletes, and musicians always have a head start when it comes to funding because of their personal brand. (And, of course, they have a completely different type of career that primarily supports them financially.)
Do you know any interesting tech projects or startups that celebrities are involved in?
I’ll start with:
Actor Ryan Reynolds – Mint Mobile
Actress + singer Bridgit Mendler – Northwood Space
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Ashton Kutcher, Dr. Dre, Jessica Alba, and Rihanna are among the most prominent celebrities who have successfully built or significantly scaled tech startups.
Ashton Kutcher: Co-founded venture firms A-Grade Investments and Sound Ventures, turning initial investments into hundreds of millions through early stakes in Uber, Airbnb, and Spotify.
Dr. Dre: Co-founded Beats Electronics, which revolutionized the audio industry and was acquired by Apple for $3 billion.
Jessica Alba: Co-founded The Honest Company, a successful e-commerce startup focused on eco-friendly consumer products that set a new standard for the industry.
Rihanna: Her partnership with LVMH created Fenty Beauty, which generated $570 million in revenue within its first 15 months, demonstrating massive commercial success in the tech-enabled consumer space.
Nas: Founded Queensbridge Venture Partners, building a high-return portfolio that includes early investments in Coinbase and Robinhood.
Will.i.am: Launched i.am+, which pivoted from e-commerce to become a profitable B2B tech startup specializing in AI-powered chatbots.
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@bruce23 Didn't know that so many are actiev in business, tho some are for beauty related. :)
@bruce23 How could I forget Dr. Dre and Beats? Good call!
Hi Nika,
Not quite on message but close; there was an early 2000's rapper called Chamillionaire that completely left rap to become a VC. But he went through the whole learning process instead of just cutting cheques and he ended up working with big names like Lyft and spacex.
Shaquille O Neal was also an early angel in google but that was just cutting a cheque cos he was in the right place at the right time. And then you also have The Rock with "Insert Product"........
You're spot on about having big names being linked to easy(ier?) funding access but I think the main thing they would bring is an amazing reach and proven distro mechanics (having productized themselves) that a startup could plug into.
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@zolani_matebese I totally missed those names. Thank you for broadening my horizons.
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Milla Jovovich is building a "local-first" AI memory system https://millaj.com/mempalace
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@konrad_sx Didn't know that one of my favourite actors is so engaged in tech. Have seen all movies (Resident Evil) :) Thank you for sharing, gonna check it out!:)
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@busmark_w_nika She's one of my favorites also, watched most of her movies :)
Have seen the Resident Evil movies also, even though I don't like zombies ;)
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@konrad_sx Well, the 5th Element was also cool! :)
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@busmark_w_nika And Ultraviolet and Joan of Arc
While I don't usually follow celebrities tied to startups, reading the headline reminded me of a recent episode of Trevor Noah's podcast featuring Tracee Ellis Ross, where they discuss the litigious nature of US culture. He went on to say even in a situation where one wants to be helpful they should consider the risk factor of being sued.
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@jacqueline_v_twillie Do you have a link to that episode? :)
@busmark_w_nika Yes, here's the link https://youtu.be/2_HAVGehK4c?si=w-9f6Uob9oExE-2d
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@jacqueline_v_twillie Thank you! :)
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@busmark_w_nika Interesting thread! I’d never thought about it. I’m starting to read through the facts you shared, the comments, and do some research myself. =)
Thanks for giving me some interesting material to explore!
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@adana Thank you so much for being a part of this discussion :) I like to reveal new possible things that are happening in the tech industry :)
Reynolds was the first one that came to mind. But there are a few others that come to mind:
Ashton Kutcher
Jessica Alba, The Honest Company
Jay-Z, Tidal
I really liked Tidal but it was too expensive at the time. Good trial at the time. Remarkable how much better its music sounded... Kutcher seems to be in everything. The most notable startup is Alba's and Reynolds', IMHO.
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@billspaced Tidal is kinda popular :) Thank you for sharing this one list :)