[box type=”note” border=”full” icon=”none”]Before you read on, the folks at Prescreen were awesome enough to gift everyone in our community a free movie. It’s called Finding Joe and it’s an inspiring story about how to live a fully realized life. Enjoy.[/box]
[quote style=”boxed”]Always be thinking. Flip things upside down, backwards, sideways, inside out and in reverse order to make sure you’re thinking of every possible angle or scenario. Then do it all again.[/quote]
Lee Wilson is a co-founder and vice president of business development at Prescreen. Prescreen is a curated social discovery video-on-demand platform designed to promote and showcase premium content. He has a background in online marketing, with a passion for entertainment and a focus on the Internet/tech industry. After more than a decade of brand marketing, he dove head first into the startup world as a co-founder at Prescreen. Lee first got bit by the entrepreneurial bug in 2006 when he founded the Austin, TX based record label Lowe Farm Records, which he later sold to a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment.
Before Prescreen, Lee consulted with tech startups and was a senior executive at advertising agencies, primarily working with global consumer technology brands. Prior to that, Lee worked in the music industry where he cut his teeth developing cross-platform marketing strategies for emerging artists at EMI Records and Universal Music Group. Lee holds a B.S. degree in business communications from Vanderbilt University.
What are you working on right now?
Right now my primary focus is on growing Prescreen’s user base through strategic partnerships with third parties.
Where did the idea for Prescreen come from?
We saw that there were a ton of great films that didn’t get the distribution that they deserved and that there are tremendous inefficiencies in the way films are currently marketed.
What does your typical day look like?
I hate to sound cliche, but no day is “typical.” Working at an early stage startup, you wear a lot of hats and on any given day I might be calling distributors or filmmakers, talking with publications and blogs, pitching to investors, reviewing new designs, working on the product with the engineers or refilling the water cooler.
How do you bring ideas to life?
We work in a very collaborative environment. No really, we all sit within arms reach of each other. We’re constantly throwing out ideas and we use an effort/effect graph to determine which ones have the highest priority.
What’s one trend that really excites you?
The emergence of digital in the film industry and the fact that Silicon Valley and Hollywood are getting closer and closer.
What was the worst job you ever had and what did you learn from it?
I took a promotion and had a new boss. Although we got along great outside of work, there was a lot of friction at first because we kept stepping on each other’s toes. I learned to always have very clear expectations of what your responsibilities are, understand what your supervisor’s responsibilities are and address areas where there is overlap.
If you were to start again, what would you do differently?
I would have studied computer science in college.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Always be thinking. Flip things upside down, backwards, sideways, inside out and in reverse order to make sure you’re thinking of every possible angle or scenario. Then do it all again.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Incorporate your company in Delaware. Then sell it and move to Monaco to live tax-free for the rest of your life.
If you could change on thing in the world, what would it be and how would you go about it?
Education, I’d create better incentives for teachers and students.
Tell us a secret.
I’m addicted to Diet Dr. Pepper.
What are your three favorite online tools and what do you love about them?
- Google Search and LinkedIn: They help me learn as much as I can about people I’m about to talk to or meet with.
- Google Analytics: Good for geeking out on stats about our site.
- TweetDeck: It’s how I stay connected to everything from news to sports to tech to my wife.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin because you need to take some time to take your mind off of work every now and then.
What’s on your playlist?
Right now, Neil Young, Knapsack and Mineral.
Three people we should follow on Twitter and why?
- @blam: Brian Lam is a former writer at @wired and former head of @gizmodo. He is a friend and a talented surfer who always has something great to say.
- @sportsguy33: Bill Simmons is the Sports Guy, writer for @espn and head of @grantland. He has great opinion on all things sports.
- @barackobama: ummm…he’s the president.
When was the last time you laughed out loud? What caused it?
Have you not seen Aziz Ansari’s Dangerously Delicious? Get it:
Who is your hero?
My father. He is a 26-year Army vet and has been working hard for the past 15 years of his “retirement.”
How do you not get stressed out working long hours?
Hire and work with people you respect and can get along with.
If you weren’t doing what you’re doing now, what would you be doing?
Lounging at the beach with a Mai Tai in hand.
Connect:
Prescreen Website: http://prescreen.com
Lee Wilson on Twitter: @theleewilson
Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.