Jimmy Fallon, Steve Jobs, and theCO
What does Jimmy Fallon have to do with a small coworking space in Jackson, TN? Well, not much…but there is one great lesson that can be learned from his success as the new host of The Tonight Show. Fallon took over The Tonight Show in February of this year. Since then, the show has taken off, and now boasts 3.7 million viewers in the 18-49 year old audience, a million more than his closest competitor. Beyond just the show, many of his skits have gone viral and taken YouTube by storm. The key to his success, though? Understanding his audience and being their voice. Every time I watch the show, I think to myself, "this guy gets it, he gets my generation." Fallon, like no other talk show host, relates to his guests and his viewers in a way that no one else has been able to, except maybe Johnny Carson. Very few businesses or individuals find a way to do this, but the ones that do experience extreme success. Take another example: Apple. They created their own easy to use operating system complete with mobile devices and created an empire, all because they knew what their audience wanted and were able to connect on a way that no other brand could. Now, any Apple convention rivals a church service or political rally complete with incessant clapping and awe struck praise. It was easy for Jobs and Fallon to understand their customer, because they were their customer. Both men discovered what their audience wanted by first finding out what they wanted (an intuitive and simple, but genius idea to steal!!)At theCO, we are hoping to create a similar environment where we are constantly in tune with what our coworkers want. The approach we are taking is the same approach those guys took: be your own customer. All the founders of theCO are coworkers that have begun running their business partially, if not completely from theCO. What better way to find out what entrepreneurs need or want, than to become one yourself. While our goal is not to create an empire, we can and already have begun to create a home for entrepreneurs and innovators to come and create the next great product through collaboration and access to top of the line technology, not found hardly anywhere else in West Tennessee. We still have a lot of work to do before we understand our customer, but our open door policy over the next couple months is intended to drive entrepreneurs to the space and find out what they need and how we can serve them best. Thanks for the tip Jimmy.
Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake in their evolution of rap skit on The Tonight Show.
A young Steve Jobs. (Long hair, don't care)
The original iPod.
Jimmy Fallon selfie with Stephen Colbert.