Kevin Matossian’s Entrepreneur Lecture: Failures are the Greatest Lessons!
Born and raised in California, Kevin Matossian learned at an early age that there is a business opportunity in almost anything, as long as you’re open to the options. In his entrepreneur lecture, held on November 29 for Woodbury University faculty and students, Mr. Matossian reflected on his early beginnings as an entrepreneur. It all started around the age of 10, first with reselling candy to classmates, followed by selling water filters to the neighbors at 13, and opening a car wash service with a friend at 14 during one of California’s infamous droughts. Kevin and his friend found out that proper use of one squirt bottle of water was enough to clean a car.
This made him aware of the success recipe for entrepreneurship: Observe a problem, formulate a solution, and give it your all!
The focus of Matossian’s entrepreneurial endeavors emerged at age 15 when he heard the music from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Broadway musical “The
Phantom of the Opera”. Listening to this impressive piece made him realize the many facets of filmmaking, and the numerous specializations that are involved in creating motion pictures. This compelled him to attend film school. His first intention was to become an actor, but life had other plans for Kevin, and he soon got involved in the marketing side of filmmaking.
Around the turn of the millennium, at the height of the dotcom frenzy, Kevin and his team started filming and training CEOs of start-up companies, many of whom had no experience, plans, or skills to do what they aimed to do. Yet, they were receiving large support from eager investors, and while most of these small startups did not survive, Kevin and his film crew made valuable connections and generated the income needed to move to the next level of performance: “Rascal Entertainment” was created. While that company didn’t last, Kevin made some valuable connections that would turn beneficial for his future projects. He also realized the importance of knowing your audience and how to compel them. He learned about the value of fundraising and foreign distribution. This is how Silver Crest Entertainment was created: an entity responsible for several successful productions. “LOST” was the company’s first major success, followed by “September Dawn,” a production with great actors.
In the process of identifying movie-stills for actors to approve for use, Kevin got another great idea, which led to the founding of Film Solutions, a company focusing on many of the aspects that larger studios did not want to deal with. The company grew immensely, and when Kevin finally sold it, it was a very lucrative deal.
Kevin Matossian continues to work on great movie productions, a recent one being “Mourning Rock”.
In sharing some final entrepreneurial insights Mr. Matossian stated:
- Entrepreneurship brings uncertainty, and the process can be challenging, but it is worthwhile if you are passionate enough about it.
- Use your common sense: don’t go into things that seem too good to be true. Think matters through before committing.
- Be alert when considering partnerships. Make sure you identify those with a real interest and passion from those who only want to be in it for the money without a real care for the business.
- Don’t talk too much about your plan. Just do it. The power, learning, and growth come with the action.
- You can’t win them all! There will be failures along the way, but without failure, there is no learning. Appreciate your failures and discover how to improve from them. Failures are the greatest lessons!
Last Updated on December 1, 2023.