Matt Zingler is the co-founder of Dope Entertainment and Rolling Loud Festivals. He studied biology in college but pursued a career in the music industry, first booking shows and later founding Dope Entertainment in 2010 and Rolling Loud Festivals in 2014. Rolling Loud has experienced continual growth in profits and attendance under Zingler's leadership. Zingler learns from failures and aims to continually improve the fan experience through innovation, such as proposing livestreaming concerts. He utilizes data and market research to make strategic branding and business decisions to expand his companies' reach and value.
Falcon Invoice Discounting: Empowering Your Business Growth
Emily Bresnan_LeadershipEssay
1. Emily Bresnan
Assignment Three: Leaders in the Industry
What leader have you chosen to speak about
and what companies has he/she worked for?
I chose Matt Zingler who is the co-founder of
Dope Entertainment and Rolling Loud
Festivals. Zingler’s background isn’t in music
though as he studied at the University of
Florida and got his bachelor’s in Biology/
Biological Sciences. He started his music
business career by booking and promoting
shows at clubs until 2010 when he founded
Dope Entertainment with Tariq Cheriff, which
is a Florida based touring company that mainly
works with Hip-Hop and Rap artists. In an
interview with Pollstar, Zingler’s business
partner Cheriff says, “Dope Entertainment is a
separate company, it’s our first company, that
we operate still separately. It’s the hip-hop concert tours that we book in Florida. We started in
2010, with shows like Rick Ross, and Curren$y, the Big Seans, Mac Millers, Wale, that type of
stuff, Ab-Soul, Earl Sweatshirt, A$AP Ferg”. Through this experience Zingler and Cheriff then
founded Rolling Loud Festivals in February of 2014, which is a multi-day festival that features
local and well-known Hip Hop artists and rappers. Artists like Lil Uzi, JCole, Post Malone and
Travis Scott have attended attracting about 120,000 people for each festival. Now, Zingler is still
continuing Dope Entertainment and Rolling Loud as he says he working on branding his
company as its becoming bigger and bigger with each festival. I chose Matthew Zingler though
because I like the way he presents himself and how well he’s building his companies. I think he’s
done a great job and has learned through experience to make smart moves to help his companies
grow. I also like his originality and how much he values ideas and trying new things to make a
difference in the live entertainment industry. In an interview with Forbes magazine Zingler says,
“ When asked of his appearance - tattoos visible from his hands to his neck - has stifled potential
business, he claims, ‘I don’t ever dress up for anybody. I don’t believe in the suit-and-tie method.
I believe that the real value is what you have in your head’. He's also hyper-aware that his desires
are lofty, but revels in the possibilities. ‘It’s about how big can we go without sinking the ship’ ”.
What are some of his/her greatest business achievements?
Zingler’s accomplishments with his businesses are mainly with Rolling Loud. The continual
growth of Rolling Loud is increasing in profits and attendance with each show. Zingler’s ideas
and approach to the industry are what’s helping the growth as he’s always trying to come up with
1
2. new ideas to make Rolling Loud as great as an experience as he can. “The future in my opinion
is digital. Digital marketing and data and media content. You see everybody fighting over live
stream rights. Imagine being able to have a music festival where there’s no such thing as an
occupancy anymore because anybody can tune in around the world and pay $20 to watch
it” (Forbes 2017). He’s also very skillful in the financial aspect of the company as he talks about
one way he manages the company’s finances, “It’s just about scaling, price elasticity and supply
and demand. For us as a festival, our ROI ranges between 10-50%. There’s a reason we’re
growing at the rate we are” (Forbes 2017). He’s also been successful with branding and
marketing Rolling Loud. He uses his resources and realizes how important it is to use data to
gain knowledge of what customers want in order to help build his brand into a global and well-
known festival. In regards to how he is branding Rolling Loud Zingler says “Every brand is just
a name initially. After you develop a name and you put value to it with data and a following, any
[outside company or brand] can utilize that. When I’m expanding a brand I look at it from the
perspective as I’m increasing knowledge of my brand” (Forbes 2017). Therefore Zingler has had
successes and are continuing them by building Rolling Loud with each festival.
What are some of his/her biggest business failures?
Throughout his music career Zingler has learned from trial and error when it came to promoting
shows and managing nightclubs. When he first started Dope Entertainment, he hosted an after-
party for Rick Ross that lost 30,000 dollars. However he learned from his mistakes and learned
as much as he could from each event to do better the next time. After the fail with the after-party
he still took away knowledge he could use as “Zingler realized the untapped hip-hop market in
the area [Tallahassee]. He soon switched the business model to promoting concerts with hard
ticket sales, and routed a revenue-generating Florida run with New Orleans rapper
Curren$y” (Forbes 2017). Zingler says in response to what happened with Rick Ross that “You
got to pay to play, and in this industry, especially, education doesn't come cheap” (Miami New
Times 2014) . He’s also had some troubles and setbacks with Rolling Loud Festivals. In 2014
Nipsey Hussle (a performer at the Rolling Loud Event that year) left after his performance when
he was suppose to stay for meet and greets. Zingler had to announce to people that paid extra for
the meet and greet, the situation and how to get a refund. In 2015 Zingler also had some
complications with a show as there was rain each day causing problems with the stage equipment
and slow setups. There was also problems with the ticket scanners and then the fire department
ultimately made them shut-down due to the weather and safety of the crowd so they had some
financial loss. However “fans concluded it was an event worth attending again”(Forbes). I think
Zingler is excellent at not being afraid to take risks, picking himself up from failures and moving
on from them with insightful knowledge.
What have you learned from their achievements and failures?
I’ve mainly been learning from Zingler’s failures as he’s able to stay determined and try again.
He has a very positive attitude when it comes to failing and he doesn’t let them set him back. It’s
teaching me that its okay to fail and that each event is a learning experience. Failures can make
you stronger and wiser so it’s good to try no matter what. I’ve also learned from Zingler’s
accomplishments that you have to be smart, careful and knowledgable when it comes to branding
2
3. your own/a company. Zingler is heavily invested in how both of his companies are marketed and
operated, especially with Rolling Loud in regards to marketing to ticket buyers. He uses data to
make decisions to make each event better than the last. He values ideas and new approaches to
the industry which has led to many of his accomplishments, which I really value. It’s reminding
me to think of ways that the industry can improve for businesses and customers.
Based on what you saw in the assigned video on Leadership Qualities/Actions, what
qualities do you think your leader exhibits to help reach their success?
I think that Matt Zingler has a lot of the qualities that were listed in the video. He’s definitely an
upcoming leader in this industry and has led Dope Entertainment and Rolling Loud with the help
of Tariq Sheriff, to success with the qualities he possess. He definitely has passion for the music
industry as he left the field of Biology to pursue his dreams of working in this industry. He took
risks but was also confident in his decisions and what he wants to do with the help of his passion.
He also has accountability when things do go wrong, he admits his mistakes, makes up for them
and learns from them. He doesn’t seem to be the type of person to point blame on others for his
failures. He doesn’t let things hold him back or make excuses. I would also say that he has the
qualities of innovation and restlessness mentioned in the video as well since he’s always trying
something new and different. He works hard to get things done and puts in the effort in order to
succeed. Last, I also think Zingler is extremely positive especially when things get rough. He
doesn’t give up easily and tries to look for the light at the end of the tunnel. He takes in new
experiences and finds the positives in all of them. I think that Zingler is making a good name for
himself and his companies as he possesses leadership qualities that are helping him grow bigger
and bigger.
How might your leader’s perspective of media and entertainment products be different
from the average fan or consumer?
As a business owner and founder of two music and entertainment companies, Zingler definitely
sees opportunities and makes decisions that are different from a fan’s perspective, that will help
his companies and improve experiences for customers. He makes decisions that will help his
business and create profits, which is different from a fan’s viewpoint. For example, Zingler wants
to start live streaming some of his events for a small fee. To Zingler he sees even more potential
to make money by selling livestream passes to people who cant physically be at the concert but
still want to see it. This way more people can still “attend” the concert in a sense and feel like
they’re right there in the crowd. This can be a huge profit for Rolling Loud, as if shows sell out,
people can still buy tickets to the livestream, creating additional revenue. However a fan’s
interest isn’t in the profit for a company. They don’t have a business perspective on events, they
just want to have a fun experience. Therefore fans don’t see some of the reasoning and potential
for profit behind the lifestreams they just get the experience and decide if they like it or not.
Zingler understands why and how an idea like this can be beneficial to his business and develops
it so fans will want to buy it.
3
![new ideas to make Rolling Loud as great as an experience as he can. “The future in my opinion
is digital. Digital marketing and data and media content. You see everybody fighting over live
stream rights. Imagine being able to have a music festival where there’s no such thing as an
occupancy anymore because anybody can tune in around the world and pay $20 to watch
it” (Forbes 2017). He’s also very skillful in the financial aspect of the company as he talks about
one way he manages the company’s finances, “It’s just about scaling, price elasticity and supply
and demand. For us as a festival, our ROI ranges between 10-50%. There’s a reason we’re
growing at the rate we are” (Forbes 2017). He’s also been successful with branding and
marketing Rolling Loud. He uses his resources and realizes how important it is to use data to
gain knowledge of what customers want in order to help build his brand into a global and well-
known festival. In regards to how he is branding Rolling Loud Zingler says “Every brand is just
a name initially. After you develop a name and you put value to it with data and a following, any
[outside company or brand] can utilize that. When I’m expanding a brand I look at it from the
perspective as I’m increasing knowledge of my brand” (Forbes 2017). Therefore Zingler has had
successes and are continuing them by building Rolling Loud with each festival.
What are some of his/her biggest business failures?
Throughout his music career Zingler has learned from trial and error when it came to promoting
shows and managing nightclubs. When he first started Dope Entertainment, he hosted an after-
party for Rick Ross that lost 30,000 dollars. However he learned from his mistakes and learned
as much as he could from each event to do better the next time. After the fail with the after-party
he still took away knowledge he could use as “Zingler realized the untapped hip-hop market in
the area [Tallahassee]. He soon switched the business model to promoting concerts with hard
ticket sales, and routed a revenue-generating Florida run with New Orleans rapper
Curren$y” (Forbes 2017). Zingler says in response to what happened with Rick Ross that “You
got to pay to play, and in this industry, especially, education doesn't come cheap” (Miami New
Times 2014) . He’s also had some troubles and setbacks with Rolling Loud Festivals. In 2014
Nipsey Hussle (a performer at the Rolling Loud Event that year) left after his performance when
he was suppose to stay for meet and greets. Zingler had to announce to people that paid extra for
the meet and greet, the situation and how to get a refund. In 2015 Zingler also had some
complications with a show as there was rain each day causing problems with the stage equipment
and slow setups. There was also problems with the ticket scanners and then the fire department
ultimately made them shut-down due to the weather and safety of the crowd so they had some
financial loss. However “fans concluded it was an event worth attending again”(Forbes). I think
Zingler is excellent at not being afraid to take risks, picking himself up from failures and moving
on from them with insightful knowledge.
What have you learned from their achievements and failures?
I’ve mainly been learning from Zingler’s failures as he’s able to stay determined and try again.
He has a very positive attitude when it comes to failing and he doesn’t let them set him back. It’s
teaching me that its okay to fail and that each event is a learning experience. Failures can make
you stronger and wiser so it’s good to try no matter what. I’ve also learned from Zingler’s
accomplishments that you have to be smart, careful and knowledgable when it comes to branding
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