#BTVF is Behind the Valencia Filter, where I profile successful people of color in industries that are not glamorized by the mainstream. This one sits more on the fringe of that sentiment but I felt it was still a worthwhile interview to bring to my audience.
Devon Harris, formerly known as Devo Springsteen, is a Grammy award-winning producer who helped his cousin Kanye West start the G.O.O.D. Music Label. Devon attended undergrad at University of Pennsylvania, where he introduced his college roommate, John Stephens (now Legend), to his cousin and the rest became history. I met Devon during my brief stint at G.O.O.D. and have followed him as he launched his own music group and then dropped out of music to pursue an MBA at Columbia University. I was in the midst of considering an MBA, when I last talked to Devon and he mentioned he was working on a book. So I thought it would be great to reach back out to him, as I had just published my own book, and wanted to find out how his pursuit towards authorship was going. Turns out Devon had put the book on the back burner while honing his writing skills and launching his own tech start up Adventr.tv.
Devon talks about running your own tech start-up, knowing when to take a step back and take your time, creating his own bandwagon rather than riding others, and we have a brief discussion about his famous friends. Check it out below.
