
Lou Pearlman's “Brands, Bands and Billions: Making Any Business Go Platinum” - smacktoward
https://www.nathanrabin.com/happy-place/2018/2/26/literature-society-lou-pearlmans-brands-bands-and-billions-my-top-10-rules-for-making-any-business-go-platinum?rq=Pearlman
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jl2718
I was one of Lou's "boys", but I never met him personally.

My group was started in NYC in 2001, shut down after the WTC attacks, and then
moved to Boston while the remaining partners shifted focus to building casinos
in Las Vegas. I only met one of them, a Harvard MBA and owner of one of the
biggest apparel brand management companies in the world.

They did tryouts as a huge spectacle with thousands of young men in a line
stretching around several city blocks. Of the chosen ones, most of them failed
training, and others were removed later, which is how I came in, after the
move to Boston. They found me during a Harvard student party that they had
lent out the space for, and which I had been invited to.

The connection to Lou Pearlman and his other acts was hidden at first, but
everything in the show was from the top names in the business: trainers,
choreographers, songwriters, composers etc. Everybody started with the same
contract, and it paid almost nothing, a few hundred bucks a week. I didn't
care; it was fun. I also didn't pay attention to the legal stuff, although I
did see the "American Greed" episode, which was hilarious to me. It was funny
to think about the biggest names in music getting paid the same that I was
making.

It was fun. For me personally, a real stretch for my personality, some crazy
experiences, and some disastrous results.

