Featured Executive: A talk with Beatdapp cofounder Pouria Assadipour
Pouria Assadipour discusses his journey, leading the Beatdapp team, and what he’d advise other up-and-coming music professionals to do next in their careers.
via A2IM
Name: Pouria Assadipour
Title: Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder
Company: Pouria has been at the helm of the Beatdapp technology team for five years! Beatdapp is an innovative royalty-tracking system that identifies and fights against streaming fraud in real time.
What do you do at Beatdapp?
My day-to-day is all about empowering our tech team to innovate and deliver great results. I keep an eye out for the sharpest minds working in the AI/ML arena to join Beatdapp. I work side by side with our team leads to make impactful technology decisions that drive the business forward.
How do you hold yourself accountable?
There are two main strategies I use to keep myself accountable. At Beatdapp, we have a channel in Slack where everyone (including management) posts their daily goals. Additionally, I use my calendar to book time for tasks so it’s very clear to myself whether I’m getting meaningful work done.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced in this role since you started?
My responsibilities at Beatdapp continuously evolve. From the early days of developing alone, to stepping up as a team lead of a few software engineers. Now focusing on being an enabler for our amazing team of 50+ engineers and data scientists, my job has been all about growing with the company.
What life experiences have shaped your career?
While I love to travel, I’ve spent most of my life living in Vancouver BC. It’s given me the chance to create lifelong bonds with fellow tech enthusiasts, many of whom have joined us in shaping Beatdapp’s future.
What is the proudest moment in your career so far?
The proudest moment in my career was when we made our first sale. I was proud of my co-founders Morgan Hayduk and Andrew Batey who did the hard work of getting and closing the deal. Personally, I was proud of myself for helping to build something that had value to our clients.
What is your connection to the music industry?
At a previous role, I would play foosball with one of the executives who used to be an agent for music talent. While our foosball-fueled friendship didn’t get me a record deal, it was enough for him to want to start a company with me.
What advice would you give to aspiring industry professionals?
Being a tech leader isn’t just about keeping your technical skills sharp. You need to improve on your leadership skills as well.
Keep up with Beatdapp below!
About A2IM: A2IM is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit trade organization headquartered in New York City that exists to support and strengthen the independent recorded music sector. Membership currently includes a broad coalition of more than 700 Independently-owned American music labels. A2IM represents these independently owned small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) interests in the marketplace, in the media, on Capitol Hill, and as part of the global music community. In doing so, it supports a key segment of America’s creative class that represents America’s diverse musical cultural heritage. Billboard Magazine identified the Independent music label sector as 37.32 percent of the music industry’s U.S. recorded music sales market in 2016 based on copyright ownership, making Independent labels collectively the largest music industry sector.
