Opinion
Even a street performance can hold business lessons
Summary
- An act by two enterprising street performers in Milan offered onlookers a splendid example of business success. Their confidence, skill, audience engagement and customer satisfaction were marvellous.
Travel is a powerful learning tool. Especially if shaped by design experiences in Milan, which is globally famous for design. Last week, I visited Bocconi university, Alma the Italian culinary school, AC Milan, ENI, Ferrari, the Italian Railways and Ducati, among others. I came back with an enriching set of stories and a realization that while companies may operate with different models, successful ones seem to have common elements. But let me begin with the story of two entrepreneurs I met on the streets right next to the Duomo, Milan’s iconic cathedral.
These 23-year-old students of physical training and nutrition, Mattia and Samuele started by placing a blaring boombox in the middle of the tourist spot’s crowded paths, pumping out catchy numbers and stopping passersby, mostly by performing acrobatics, break dances and funny set-pieces. There was raunchiness in their patter, but within acceptable levels so that parents with small children (their main target audience) could join the laughter.
Next, they drew four girls one by one into the centre to participate in the act. That’s not easy, walking up to a shy girl who might be a tourist and bringing her into the middle of a crowd. Even with an encouraging mother (whose incentive is a memorable holiday video), that’s not easy. And they have to get it right the very first time, because if the first ‘early adopter’ refuses, the next one becomes much harder and this act just doesn’t work without volunteers.
The two youngsters then proceeded to enact their ‘value proposition’ in a sort of ham-handed style. Mattia said he intended to entertain us by jumping over all four lined up girls, an impressive jump, given the distance and cobblestones of Duomo Square. The jumper cleared space in the by-now-sizeable crowd for a run-up for this jump, while Samuele instructed the girls to stay still and started rousing the crowd with loud chants and cheers and upping the volume of his boombox. Then the jumper began his run-up amid the noise of a crowd that seemed excited to watch this drama (except perhaps the girls’ parents who by now were too invested to withdraw). As he came hurtling down, the jumper missed his step, lost control and crashed into a group of young women in the crowd, shocking everyone. Then he began laughing. Turns out it was just a prank and there was a palpable release of tension, but also some lingering fear because he had shown what could happen if the jump went wrong.
Mattia then walked back to his run-up mark slowly, and at that very moment Samuele took out a hat to pass around for money. There was a decent collection, with most of the contribution coming from the parents of the four ‘participants’ in the act. And then, in a burst of raw energy, Mattia sprinted towards the lined-up girls and leapt cleanly over them with just inches to spare, much to the relief and applause of the crowd. And more money.
As it happens, Mattia is also an acrobat for Scala, the Italian theatre, and a stuntman for movies. Samuele is the first Italian to participate in the break-dance Olympics held in Brazil (yes, there is such a thing).
What struck me about this street act is that it involved the entire cycle of an entertainment business. The ‘business owners’ had to obtain the requisite permissions from the municipality. They had to engage and attract a global target audience, recruit employees on the fly with literally no remuneration other than recognition and fame. They had to treat them with empathy and respect. They also created a storyline, building up tension and getting the crowd invested in their plot’s success. They then enacted a false near-disaster to rachet up the drama, and finally delivered on the customer promise of a high-stake entertainment act—and only received payments from satisfied customers at the end of it. As Samuele told me later, unlike the theatres where customers have to pay first and then consume the fare, he found it far more rewarding to earn his income from satisfied customers, and that too at voluntary multiple price points.
These two entrepreneurs are running a skunkworks self-internship. They are funding their education while gaining valuable experience of customer interaction and public speaking, all of which is helping raise their self-confidence and the tenacity required to sell an idea to an international audience. They are learning how to network, travel the world for shows and contests, build relationships and spot opportunities.
Companies often look towards marquee corporations and case studies for inspiration and learning. But perhaps an equally valuable skill is the ability to glean knowledge from any well-run and ethical business operation. The support staff of many corporates have similar side-gigs going. While they may not be performing acrobatics, they hold multiple jobs or run skunkwork projects for income augmentation. Corporates in search of talent should also value such competence beyond the academic records of job candidates. Because skills honed engaging harsh audiences on hard cobblestones will always beat those picked up in air-conditioned classrooms.
And in case you want to meet these two entrepreneurs, you will find them @badmatty23 and milord142_
