Danny Cohen: From Leading the BBC to Leading Venture Capitalist |E1079

I love the theater. But I look at it, and I'm always like, "Is it a good business?"

You can make money, but you're never gonna make a huge amount of money. The real money comes in a- at access entertainment. We don't think about one investment vertical, film or television. We think about attention and eyeballs. If you think about attention and eyeballs, and you create an opportunity to pick the best in class right across the entertainment sphere. Whatever business you're in, whether you're an investor or you run a business, being honest about what your strengths are and where you need to lean on other people, that is the secret of success to me. I believe in storytelling as an incredible source of revenue. The entertainment world is all about storytelling, and storytelling by companies and founders is not always as good as it needs to be.

Which brand do you think tells the best stories today?

I think IKEA's very good at storytelling.

Why IKEA?

I just think-

Danny, this is such a joy to do. I've wanted to do this one for a long time. Lior and Akin have said so many wonderful things. So thank you so much for joining me today.

Oh, pleasure. It's very nice to be here. Um, you've had, uh, really amazing people actually on your podcast before. So nice to be, uh, in their company.

Do you know what, Danny? I think it's the British accent for the American audience. It, it makes a big difference. They put you 10 IQ points higher, actually.

Good. Good.

Tell me, it's a fascinating background that you have and not the usual in terms of starting in the entertainment industry and then moving to investing. How did you make that transition, Danny?

So my job before working for Access for Len Blevatnik was running the television division of the BBC. I ran networks, pre-BBC TV networks. I was in charge of production and all the green lighted content. And I'd been there about eight years. I was ready actually to just, to do something different. The way I think about it is, I want to work until I'm really old. I think that's what keeps you healthy. So I was about 43, 44, um, when I reflected on that. I thought, "Well, I'm not even halfway through my career if I'm gonna work till I'm old." Do I want to be doing the same thing with the same people in the same world, however wonderful and exciting it is, 'cause it is, you know, great, those jobs are great, and they're very, very fascinating, interesting and stimulating. Do I wanna be doing those for another 25, 30, 35 years? And I couldn't imagine that. So I left the BBC without deciding what I was gonna do next because I knew I needed some time to really think about it and decompress. Those jobs are very intense. And I went and had some nice meetings on the West Coast and, and so on, with, um, TV businesses and studios and so on. But around that time, Len Blevatnik had approached me. I'd known Len actually through my wife for quite a long time. And the proposition he offered was so much more interesting, so much more diverse, so much more learning and education for myself, so much more runway to have a long career in this rather than treading, you know, around the same turf I had been for the first 25 years of my career. It was just much, much more appealing.