Cyndee Sugra took a chance developing technology that no one else wanted. That leap of faith paved the way for her evolution from indie rock musician to CEO of a tech development and design firm. Now she's singing all the way to the bank
At first glance, Cyndee Sugra's evolution from indie rock musician -- she spent her late teens as part of Baby Alive, an all-girl rock band signed to an indie label -- to CEO of Studio 7 Media, a 15-employee tech development and design firm, wouldn't seem to make much sense.
Especially when you consider that, despite her day job, she's still rocking with her current band, ElectroSonic.
But a closer look at how Sugra developed her business -- from her creative approach to Web design to the risky decision to develop a DVD technology at the request, but not the financial support, of a major movie studio to her ability to perceive the cutting edge in the tech world -- makes it all make a little more sense.
Creative Technology as the Focus
Today, Studio 7's 30 clients include 20th Century Fox, Fisher-Price, Nike, and Disney. Perhaps more significantly, revenue went from $1.1 million just two years ago to a projected $8 million in 2008. Plans are under way to double the staff within the next three months.
"We set ourselves apart by focusing on creative technology projects that no one knows what to do with," says Sugra. "There is a risk factor in taking these projects on, but we say failure is not an option." Studio 7's most spectacular risk, and most profitable venture yet, was developing a DRM application to power Fox Digital Copy; Fox has included the application on eight movie titles so far including Live Free or Die Hard, Juno, and Alien vs. Predator. For a smaller business like Studio 7 to develop and maintain a relationship with this major movie studio is complicated but the relationship's -- and Studio 7's -- success is reflective of what Sugra learned in her journey from rock musician to tech CEO.
An Early Start as a Rocker
Sugra's music career started early -- even when measured in rock-star years. She says that music has always been a "big part" of her life growing up in southern California, and at 11 she was playing lead guitar in a series of garage bands. By 16, Baby Alive, her all-girl band, had a record deal with an independent label.
The next two years taught her the art of marketing and promotion " "I wore every hat," she says " but in 1997 she left the band over "creative differences." Her knowledge of the music industry helped her found marketing jobs in independent music labels, and eventually she landed in BMG's strategic marketing department just as Internet marketing was becoming a force in the industry.
"It was a really great time," says Sugra. "Everybody was so new to it, and we were in a position to try everything and anything."
The Beginning of E-Commerce
At BMG, Sugra was able to work on one of the industry's first e-commerce sites, and she helped launch an online radio show. "We had marketing initiatives backed up by technology. We realized that in order to be successful online you needed to understand technology," says Sugra. "It trained my mind-set to learn quickly and understand technology."
In 1999, Sugra jumped to DirectTV, which she said was a vastly different experience. "It was a huge company and it moved very slowly. Everything was meetings, meetings, meetings. BMG was big but not like DirectTV. There was lots of red tape, and I didn't feel like I had flexibility."
Sugra says she was worried she was "losing her edge" in terms of the Internet, so she left after six months to join a startup. It was a sporting goods company, and she became its online expert, but this was the start of the dot-com bust and the company eventually went under.
Sugra did some consulting work but couldn't find a full-time job. When a job she interviewed for at Sony -- one that Sugra said she was perfect for -- went to someone else instead, Studio 7 Media was born. Sugra founded the company as an Internet marketing company, but it quickly evolved into a full-service agency -- Web design, execution, promotion, and e-commerce.
The dot-com bust was Sugra's fortune: "People were being laid off, but companies still needed those services," she says.
Sugra's strategy was to take on any and all projects, and to cultivate good relations with her clients. Sales and marketing was done by word of mouth. "We still have many clients today that we started with," she says.
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After a few years of Web development -- minisites, Flash Web sites, setting up promotions, e-commerce -- Fox's home entertainment division came calling. One of Sugra's former colleagues at BMG was now working in Fox's digital marketing department and remembered her.
Next Page: A Movie Studio Comes Knocking
