Shachar Oren
Founder of Sound Media Ventures
Atlanta, Georgia
Overview
Work Experience
Chapter Lead - ATL
2024 - Current
ATL chapter co-lead for a global community of post exit founders who seek purpose, meaning, happiness, and problem-solving among colleagues with shared experiences.
Founder & CEO
2020
Sound Media Ventures' vision is that as AI, robotics, web3, Metaverses, wearables, UGC, and other novel technologies proliferate, media is growing increasingly pervasive in our lives. We use media to create, communicate, learn, exercise, entertain, transact, and beyond. AI and robots use it for similar purposes. Our mission at Sound Media Ventures is to offer broad coverage of emerging media technology companies. Our investors include post-exit entrepreneurs, engineers, data scientists, professors, operators, and risk managers. Our investments reach across the globe.
Discovering, investing, and mentoring media technology startups worldwide.
VP Music
2018 - 2019
Transitioned Neurotic Media tech and team into Peloton. Got our mission completed, establishing the Peloton music platform ecosystem end to end. Led global music innovation, including a partnership with Techstars Music.
Peloton is an interactive fitness platform reinventing fitness with live and on-demand boutique studio classes.
Raised $2,169,707,000.00 from TCV.
Founder, President and CEO
2001 - 2019
On June 2018, Neurotic Media was acquired by and became a subsidiary of NY-based Peloton Interactive Inc. At Neurotic Media, we drove consumer behavior with popular artists and songs. Our B2B services (i.e. SaaS) utilized our proprietary, patented software platform for distributing and marketing music online in white-label and bespoken configurations. We provided brands with control over how they commercialized digital media using private-labeled UX and API services. Some used to refer to this as an "iTunes in a box" or a "Spotify in a box", to help illustrate some reiterations. Those are but two example use cases of how brands used Neurotic Media. We worked with over 5,000 brands during the company 's life. This was a wonderful, 18-years journey shared with an amazing group of colleagues, partners, and investors.
Neurotic Media helps brands and mobile companies influence consumer behavior using popular songs and artists.
Senior VP, International Business Development
1998 - 2001
I was the 5th hire at Amplified, a startup that at its highest point included about one hundred and fifty. After a week of training (my boss and mentor Frazier Hollis shared his "Frazier's Business 101" on a whiteboard and then unleashed me), I ventured out to try and sell an idea, a vision. It worked. We inked the first-ever digital distribution deals as a B2B SaaS provider in early 1998 with Tower Records, Warehouse Music, and Transworld Entertainment. I spent three years running point on business development globally. I learned a ton at Amplified, worked with an amazing crew, and built a fantastic network of colleagues who, in the following decade, rose across the music ecosystem as leaders and executives.
Production & Writing
1997 - 1998
Started training as on-set production assistant, then passed internal tests and started drafting news bits off of faxed wires for Headline News teleprompters. My on-air experience in college (WRAS) proved useful, enabling me to distill short paragraphs per news wire and prep teleprompter copy based on allotted seconds requested by the producers. It involved editorial decisions about what was actually important to communicate, which was a rewarding responsibility. But, I didn't like the night shifts, the schedule was brutal, I was antsy to move on.
A&R & Radio PR
1995 - 1997
I promoted various priority releases to radio stations across several genres. In 1997, I spearheaded the creation of Altered Records, an alternative music imprint, as an A&R representative. We released recordings by Drivin n Cryin, The Fleshtones, Pineal Ventana, and more.
Business Owner
1995 - 1997
I launched an indie label in ATL with my partner James St. James (of The Point fame). We released albums by William Carlos Williams, Pineal Ventana and Tweezer. This was my first foray into running a newco right out of college.
Program Director & on-air DJ
1991 - 1995
I served as a DJ at the best student-run college station in America during the salad days of grange music, and it was bar-none the best thing about my GSU college experience. While playing music during Friday morning drive-time for four years, I also served as Production Director for a couple of years, and Program Director in 95. I built a recording studio into our station production room. This led us to record over 100 live on-air performances a year for the following four years. From local to national to global, every alt music act coming through town stopped by for interviews and live sets. Smashing Pumpkins, Tori Amos, Counting Crows, Deus, Pearhead, The Orb, G Love, Frank Black, you name it. I spent a year licensing 19 tracks with the GSU legal team from labels and publishers. We released a compilation called Radio Oddyssey (on CEMA/EMI globally) with all proceeds going to the station. It was my first licensing, engineering, production project. A year later we released volume 2, dedicated to local artists recorded live on air (this one was released through Koch). I have dealt with music licensing in one capacity or another my entire career since. WRAS is sort of a fraternity organization, many of us remain in touch, across generations, great friendships for life. And I hired several alumni out of there at Amplified and Neurotic Media years later. It was a wonderful training ground for students, especially those majoring in Communications, Media, and Music. Business as well.
Education
B.S. cum laude
1990 - 1995