Troy Carter is the CEO and Founder of Atom Factory, an award-winning artist management company credited with building the careers of superstars such as Lady Gaga, John Legend and Meghan Trainor.

More than managing artists, Carter is a General Partner and Founder of Cross Culture Ventures, a venture fund that invests in entrepreneurs and early stage startups committed to forging the future of technology and consumer products . Possessing a proven instinct for identifying promising startups, Carter has been an early investor in several unicorn companies such as Spotify, Lyft, Uber, DropBox and Warby Parker.

Understanding the convergence of media, technology and culture, Carter launched SMASHD – a multimedia platform designed to be the definitive voice for today’s generation of disruptive creators. Founded in 2013, SMASHD aims to empower a new breed of entrepreneurs and innovators through original content that captures the ethos of multicultural millennials actively creating and shaping culture.

In 2015, Carter introduced SMASHD LABS, a 10-week accelerator program that welcomes a select list of early stage startups across industries. Participating startups are awarded a seed round of funding, work from the Atom Factory campus, receive a seed round of funding and access a network of mentors and advisors to assist in the development of each business. In its inaugural year, Carter chose and invested in 5 diverse companies, expanding from global file sharing and e-commerce, to a music curation and discovery platform. Returning for a second year, Carter and his team look to further expand the scope and scale of the program. Applications to join the sophomore class of SMASHD LABS closes June 15th.

Following the recent announcement of his move to Spotify as the streaming war intensifies, Carter speaks about disruption, hustle, his approach to investing and the keys to building successful businesses in the modern world.

SOURCE