Lee's CEO blog

I met with Me and Phil and delivered a contract for them to sign and return that would result in us booking about one show a week for them after next September.

I also spoke with Jamin Dunn. He wanted to negotiate an advancement of funds, and after speaking with Clint we have decided that will not be a good idea for two reasons. First, then he would start the next pay period having spent the last periods earning already, and it could be a viscous cycle. It would work out better financially for everyone to bite the bullet for one month, and change to monthly distributions instead of quarterly. Any job would make a person wait at least 2 weeks before getting a paycheck, so a month shouldn't be too bad. We also decided to change the contract to say that merchandise sold by Jamin could be used to cover expenses if venue reimbursement could not, but still would not be subject to Including Judas' 10% fee.

I will be talking to Jamin again Wedenesday to work out more points of the contract. I hope he able to accept the decisions Clint and I have made. We are all taking a risk on each other here, and I feel like I have been as lenient and kind as I can be without being foolish.

I am meeting "Me and Phil" band leader Issac Pellerin Monday to renew our contract with "Me and Phil".

I received a call from Jamin Dunn. He is ready to negotiate the terms of his contract. He has been working with a management agency offering a countercontract to ours, but I have a feeling our terms are just too good to pass up. I will call him Monday to start hammering out the details. Using the fax, we could have him signed by the end of the day.

Monday could be quite a day, signing two superb artists. What a business!

Including Judas LLC is now registered as a tax paying entity. By filing form SS-4 over the phone and keeping a written copy for our records, Including Judas LLC has its tax ID number: 01-0814637.

This means that we can hire employees, receive payments, set up accounting systems and open bank accounts. I'm going to start with opening up the bank account next.

The IRS was a lot nicer then I thought they would be. But then again, people are always nice when they're getting a new customer.

I got a reply from my letter to Dr. Sova. He gave me a very informative artical published by IBM. I won't be sharing it here because it is in PDF format, but I am going to send it to Clint.

Yesterday, I got all the necessary office supplies, and today I will be setting up our filing system. It's amazing how many papers I have already.

I also got a CD case specificly to hold demos (they usually don't come with good cases nor do they need to).

I set my work hours as 8AM to 2PM, making up the rest of the hours after my job at the library doing whatever evening tasks are necessary (going to see musicians, meetings with venues).

I am feeling very excited to be working on this project, and there's nothing more motivating than being responsible of your own success and failure.

Thanks for collaborating with me. Here is a link to my new company, Including Judas LLC’s, website: www.includingjudas.com. I am partnered with a computer engineer that is working on acquiring the tools to make the website professional. I had no idea how expensive engineering software is.

Including Judas LLCis a company that believes that every person receives an equal chance at redemption through God’s grace including Judas. I have long been drawn to the music industry, and my goal is to make a way for musicians to acquire success and make a living through their music while still not becoming famous, catering to a mass market, or sacrificing their artistic integrity. With the current changes in the recording industry, I have been focusing mainly on live shows and waiting to see what the outcome of various legal and technological landmarks will be.

I have a question, if you will allow me to partake of your experience and wisdom. While I am a business major and possess talent in the area of finances making getting rich simply a question of commitment to that goal, I have often been taught that goal is wrong. Even though I do see my purpose in attaining any wealth to be a steward of God’s money and use it to His ends, I still feel a twinge of guilt at the though of committing to acquiring any great material means. As I run my company, I am constantly faced with the choice of operating for profit or for charity.

I am inspired by the work of John Henry Hammond Jr, the Jazz promoter and critic that launched the careers of Charlie Parker, Dizie Gilespie, Count Basie, Benny Goodman and later Bob Dylan. Born to a rich aristocratic family, John Hammond abandoned the life of a New York financial emperor and used his family’s money to further the careers of talented musicians who otherwise would have never been recorded or promoted (often paying for groups of up to 15 musicians to enter a studio and record with all expenses coming out of his pocket and then retaining none of the profits or rights to the albums, allowing the musicians to support themselves).

The difference between John Hammond and I is that my family has supported me this far and will not support me any farther. My education is the investment my family has made for me, and I must use that to support myself and anyone else that needs my help.

So my question to you, as a man who has worked as a missionary and also been experienced in the entertainment industry is how do you see a man my age best running a company for the purpose of furthering and supporting creative works while still providing for himself and his family? I see the two alternatives as either being missionary minded and trusting God to meet every financial need, or running a highly profitable business and redistributing a large percentage of earnings towards charitable artistic work, but I am sure there is a middle ground. Do you see and alternatives or have any ideas that haven’t come to me yet? And whether or not you do, is there anything from your experience that you would tell me to help my chances of success in being an instrument of God in the artistic community?

Thank you for your consideration.

I listened to the demo I received yesterday and I have found an ambient jazz pop trio that is currently trying to fill that third spot, but has a fresh and intelligent sound. The bassist Josh Hedges has been my neighbor and just graduated. Wolfymusic.com showcases some of their material and marketability. I am about to send them a proposal to book them venues in Indianapolis. This could be neat!

Tomorrow hopefully I will get a little filing cabinet for most of my Including Judas related papers and a holder for all the demos people keep giving me.

Yesterday, I got a free pizza from Toppit because I go there so much. And I don't know why I've never thought of it before, but I suddenly realised that it would be a great place to have Issac Pellerin play durring the summer. So I talked to them, and they want to meet him, so now I'm trying to find Issac.

Also, Josh Hedges gave me a demo CD of his new band "Wolfy". Check them out at wolfymusic.com

The blog for my practicum has been created, and Clint and Dr. Baker have been given access to post their comments. I hope they both do that frequently. Keeping communication flowing in this organiation will mean the difference between life and death.

Dr. Baker, you can look at Including Judas LLC's website as it develops over the next several months at www.includingjudas.com