Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Michael Jade. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Michael, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
I have a special tab in my journal called “Is this something?” It’s where all my little ideas live, judgment-free. Ideas for movies, commercials, books, businesses, songs, inventions, video games, restaurant concepts, comedy sketches, museums, technology, space travel – I get to live 10,000 lives in this part of my journal.
This is where the idea for Renaissance Club was born.
Until Renaissance Club, I’d spent my entire working life as a songwriter/producer. I majored in songwriting at the Berklee College of Music, moved to LA, signed with Warner Chappell Publishing, and went on to write and produce songs for David Guetta, Ava Max, G-Eazy, Little Big Town, Backstreet Boys, Andy Grammer, Rachel Platten, Hey Violet, NCT Dream, and many more.
I was riding a wave you’d think would be quite stupid to get off of.
I think there’s a lot of power in the words and labels we identify with. For me, words like “Songwriter” and “Musician” defined me. That was my world. My identity. My value. And these words can be so empowering – until they aren’t. Until they’re the very things that hold us back.
When it came to my transition from “Songwriter” to “Founder”, it’s easy to point to COVID and say that was the beginning of this massive life pivot. In reality, though, I think the pivot began much sooner, and was far more gradual.
The idea for Renaissance Club was, first and foremost, something that did not exist, and I so badly wished did: A membership which removed all the friction between you and trying something new each month. Something which took all the hassle out of researching, scheduling, booking, payment, and all the other logistics that come with trying new things.
There was no point where I said “I’m quitting songwriting, and I’m going to be a FOUNDER or ENTREPRENEUR now.” In fact, it was softening all these words and labels of who or what I am that gave me the mental wiggle room to take the first steps in building Renaissance Club.
In other words, I kind of just… started.
I think that’s a big component of taking risks sometimes. Risks are hard to take when you make the stakes so high for yourself. I think we often do this unnecessarily. The stakes are very often imagined.
I wasn’t quitting songwriting, and I wasn’t becoming a founder. I was simply allocating a few hours a day to following a thread of curiosity wherever it led. That’s it.
I remember this funny moment in March of 2022. I had just registered Renaissance Club as an LLC with Zen Business, and the box with all the official documents came in the mail.
The moment was hilariously dull. No streamers. No noisemakers or balloons. No champagne.
Even the date was underwhelming – I was in socks and pajamas, and it was like 2:00 on a Tuesday. I remember looking at my dog and my girlfriend and saying ‘Uhh… I guess I’m a founder now?’
Since then, I’ve become very careful not to identify with that word too much. To maintain a kind of playfulness and lightness around it. Even make fun of it.
Michael, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Renaissance Club is a membership service that removes all the friction between you and trying something new. It’s like speed dating but with experiences instead of people.
With us, you’re going to try everything from Archery to Pottery, Woodworking, Cooking Classes, Whale Watching, Blacksmithing, Martial Arts, Dance Classes, Live Shows, Falconry, Indoor Skydiving, Art Classes, Meditation, and over 100 other experiences.
You never know what you’re doing next. Each experience is a complete surprise. And the best part? All you choose is the date, then we handle the rest, including the cost.
We tell you the what, the when, the where, and the wear. All you need to do is show up with an open mind.
You can sign up Solo, or as a Duo with a partner of your choosing. The benefits are endless.
We are perfect for couples, friends, or relatives who want to strengthen or spice up their relationships. We are also great for Solo lone wolves who want to get out of their comfort zone, try new things alone, and meet new, like-minded people along the way.
We are here to spark creativity and connection, to help people out of personal or creative ruts, and to bolster small businesses you rarely stumble upon.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Several months ago, a journalist from the LA Times named Julia Carmel covertly joined Renaissance Club so that she could report on it honestly. Apparently, her editor had stumbled upon us on Instagram.
She wanted to try 2 experiences before outing herself to me and engaging in a proper interview.
Not knowing any of this, I sent her to an Archery class first, which was great. The second experience I had her scheduled for was the Bubble World experience produced by Fever which had just opened in LA.
It looked great on Instagram, but I was a bit suspicious and decided to try it out for myself first. With RC, we want to be experience connoisseurs – not Groupon. If we’re going to ask our members to shlep across town for something, it better be a damn good experience. Because of our high standards, we’re actually removing experiences from our rotation more often than adding them.
I’m so glad I went, because the experience turned out to be better suited for children. I immediately notified Julia (still not knowing she was an LA Times editor) that we would be swapping out her Bubble World experience for a really cool Art experience at a place called Shot of Art where you shoot paint-filled balloons with a BB gun over a spinning canvas.
Needless to say, this all converged into something amazing:
1. While I thought the experience swap would make us look bad or unprofessional, it actually made us look better. She appreciated the standard of excellence and included this in her article about us.
2. Julia brought a photographer along to the Shot of Art experience. The photos not only turned out amazing, but could not have been a better visual representation of Renaissance Club’s ethos of variety and creativity.
3. The article was profoundly positive. It led to a full “Best Of” video feature, which was spun on high rotation on cable television, and pretty much doubled our membership almost overnight.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
We are completely unfunded. I’ve been paying for Renaissance Club out of pocket since Day 1. I took $20k out of my songwriting royalty savings to build an MVP.
Countless iterations later, I’m somehow still paying off the credit card bill every month, scraping together from every revenue stream I’ve built over my life.
Some months it’s from songwriting royalties. Some months it’s from music production projects or live gigs. Some months I’m pulling from my nest egg savings. It’s been a daily challenge. Once we hit about 350 members, we’ll be at cruising altitude where the business will cover the overhead and start paying for itself (and then some).
Contact Info:
- Website: www.renaissanceclub.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/renaissanceclub.la/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/renaissanceclub.la
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaissanceclub/
- Other: LA Times Video Feature: https://www.latimes.com/travel/la-renaissance-club-latt-123 LA Times Written Article: https://www.latimes.com/travel/story/2023-07-12/renaissance-club-mystery-experiences-things-to-do