Striving to Be Champions: How the Music of Queen Inspired Me to Become a Better Entrepreneur

Music can enliven us with joy; provide solace during life’s most challenging moments; calm or jazz us; inspire action; and transport us into our most nostalgic memories.

Playing musical instruments since I was four years old, I’ve long appreciated the power of music, as a means to express my feelings, empathize with others, and expand the horizons of my creativity.

These profound effects – along with sheer enjoyment – are why I continue to play both on my own and with my band. And while I spend a good deal of time outside my role as a co-founder and CTO playing and discussing music, it’s far from an exclusively extracurricular pursuit. Music, I believe, belongs in all corners of our lives – and work is no exception.

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So, what could music possibly have to do with helping run a SaaS company? It’s not just that writing code is a bit like writing music, with symbols that mean little by themselves but together create a symphony of harmony and purpose. What’s most significant is the inspiration I draw from the world of music itself – and there’s no bigger musical inspiration in my book, than rock legend Freddie Mercury.

At the offices of my eCommerce software company, each meeting room is named after a visionary in the retail space: Louis (for Louis Vuitton), Coco (after Coco Chanel), Feodor (after Feodor Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of Ikea), and more. But there’s one exception: Our boardroom, “Freddie.” The name isn’t just a testament to my diehard fandom for the Queen frontman; it also serves as a reminder of the enduring lessons from both the band and its leader on what it takes to create something truly innovative, meaningful, and ultimately, game-changing.

Dare to be different

Even decades after Freddie’s untimely death, fans across the globe continue to embrace Queen’s music. Why doesn’t Queen’s music ever bite the dust? Music professor Nick Braae has noted that the band’s songs are compellingly “intricate and rich in their details” – making for music that was undeniably unique, thought-provoking, and ultimately, timeless.

Take Bohemian Rhapsody. When it debuted in 1975, the world had never heard anything quite like it. Queen took a big risk releasing something so long, with such an unusual range and collection of sounds, parts, and voices. Nearly half a century later, Queen fanatics whose parents were still in grade school when the song was released remain captivated by the song and its piercing lyrics.

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When my team is working on building or strengthening our product, I strive to ensure that we’re thinking “outside the box” just as Freddie and his bandmates did all those years ago. Audiences may have been originally bewildered by a song like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” but after it hit the airwaves, millions were hooked. Similarly, technological innovation often entails building surprising solutions for problems that the market may not even realize it’s facing. To make those solutions resonate, we need to find ways to compose our own set of delights – separating ourselves from the pack to not only survive but thrive.

Leave your ego at home

Long before Queen topped the charts and embarked on world tours before throngs of devoted fans or played for billions at Live Aid, the group was performing in small local pubs – not unlike most bands.

Led by Freddie’s remarkable vocals, Queen may have had the makings of greatness from the start, but they started on a much more modest scale. Takeaway: Achieving success on the road from startup to scale-up is only possible if you’re willing to put in hours of hard work that won’t necessarily make headlines, to seek out others’ guidance, and to search for new ways to improve, far from the spotlight.

The world – or your industry – may only come to know you when you’ve reached the apex, but nobody starts there, so remembering those humble beginnings will serve you well no matter where you are on your journey towards creative excellence.

Teamwork makes the dream work

Music history is full of rock stars who let fame get to their heads – and while Freddie knew that struggle himself, he was thoughtful enough to recognize his mistakes and his sincerity is what brought Queen together for perhaps one of the greatest comebacks ever.

Having a team that trusts you isn’t just important for lead singers. It’s also essential in the business world, where leaders must create environments where staff members feel comfortable sharing their ideas and voicing their concerns – no matter to who – and know that they will be taken seriously.

And just as Queen stood out for its harmony, the different voices on a team must complement each other. At the end of the day, the goal is to collaborate to build something that will make a difference in the world. That requires different perspectives, approaches, and insights – but, in the end, they all must cohere. As Queen’s Brian May recalled, “Nobody got away with a single note that the other three didn’t think would work.”

There’s no replicating Queen, let alone Freddie Mercury. But the bold energy, unique talent, and band mentality they exemplified will always be instructive as we strive to bring out the best in team members so that we and our clients can all become the champions we aspire to be.

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