Portrait Name: Frank Schulleri
Current position: Co-Founder of Little Big Art
Personal vision: “I want to bring people together through music and also create value with my work. I believe that art is like a global language, which connects everyone, regardless of your religion, your language, your age or ethical background.”
“Music has always been a part of my live”
One of the reasons, why little big art is such an authentic organization, is that Frank himself is a musician through and through. His musical journey started at a boys’ choir, where he became a soloist singing opera on many different stages, from Israel to the US. At the age of 16, he got into deejaying, where he realised that it is possible to build a career around his passion music.
“You have to swallow a lot of shit. That’s why persistence and stubbornness is a skill you need as an entrepreneur.”
Frank’s time at the boys’ choir, where he constantly had to adapt to new situations and countries, laid the basis for his later success in the world of entrepreneurship. As a founder, you need to be adaptive and very flexible to survive in a world of uncertainty and constant change.
Another skill Frank developed even further during his time as an entrepreneur is endurance and persistence. “Starting your own startup, you have to be persistent and stubborn, because you have to swallow a lot of shit. Further, you should not be afraid of those setbacks that you have throughout the time. Always be persistent and believe in the vision.” Especially in difficult times, a clear vision for yourself and your team is what keeps you going.
“We believe that art is like a global language, which connects everyone, regardless of your religion, your language, your age or ethical background”
Frank’s mission is to bring people together through art and also create value with his work. Everyone throughout the world should be able to experience intimate concerts and art experiences no matter where they are.
“With the current Corona situation, all our live experiences were gone at once”
Especially the art industry was affected by the Corona crisis. The whole platform and business model from Little Big Art were built upon live art experiences. But with the current Corona situation, all of a sudden, all those live experiences were gone within one day and the platform was empty. Instead of being desperate about the crisis the team adapted to the situation and featured digital art experiences like live drawing sessions, live readings, live concerts.
“Out of this crisis, there are a lot of new possibilities emerging especially for the cultural sector.”
“I believe that in the future, there will be more mixed forms of art experiences. Like an online guitar session or lesson, live stream events that can be seen via virtual reality or augmented reality.” Frank points out that people of the western world get used to things we only knew from the Asian parts of the world like micro-payments for small and virtual services. In his opinion, the crisis has also positive side effects, like the willingness to pay or tip for digital events or the possibility to open up the audience of the artists to other markets.
The former Freilich Open Arts and now Little Big Art platform shows that the flexibility and the adaptability to ever-changing circumstances is a key success factor for startups. Although the startup is working in one of the sectors that have been hit hardest by the crisis, they remain forward-thinking and see change as an opportunity and not a reason to fail.
In our weekly interview series, we will be featuring various inspirational entrepreneurs of the Austrian startup scene. Each Monday, you can expect useful insights into their lives and practical tips that you can follow in order to walk your entrepreneurial path. Like, share, comment – and feel free to reach out to us. Suggestions, ideas, remarks are all welcome – let’s shape the ecosystem together!
