Having spent over four decades in the entertainment industry, Lionel Lodge has acquired extensive experience across various areas of the field. From a young age, Lionel demonstrated an entrepreneurial spirit, seeking out opportunities to generate income through ventures such as shoveling snow and delivering newspapers. At just 11 years old, he established his first business, which involved producing and distributing decorative flower pot hangers to flower shops in London, Ontario.
Below are highlights of the interview conducted between World’s leaders and Lionel Lodge:
Describe who you are as a person, inside and outside of the workplace.
Running a startup, there is not a lot of “off time”. It pretty much always “on” to some degree. So, there is not really an inside or outside of the workplace for me with SyncLodge. But, to describe me as a person, I like balance, I like systems that work, I like logic, I like learning, and I like sharing what I have picked up along the way. I like working with teams and networks of teams to solve problems and achieve objectives.
Describe your background and what did you do before you started the company?
I have worked in the entertainment industry all my adult life, as a creator as well as a business founder and manager. My father worked in the entertainment industry, so I grew up with it as my environment. I started out, like a lot of people in the industry, first learning to play, then playing in bands, having fun, writing songs, and building up my music-based revenue to a level of sustainable quality of living. But I have always been interested in the business side. Along the way, I have released 12 CDs under my name, played on many CDs by other artists, and engineered and mixed many recordings. I have written hundreds of songs and co-written many more. I have played in thousands of shows in many countries, quite a few of which I lived in for extended periods of time. I have also started and exited a few companies over the years, all based in the entertainment industry.
Tell us about the inception of the company. How did it all start?
In the mid-2000s, I was living off my music, enjoying my life and the world I lived in, but CD sales were dying, so I needed to find a new revenue stream to replace or at least supplement the decline in my income. Someone suggested licensing my music for TV shows and films. I checked into it, went to a lot of conferences, met people, and started placing songs. Some independent artists and a couple small record labels asked if I would represent them for sync placements. The next thing I knew, I had a sync licensing agency. Through building the agency, meeting with and talking with at length with many industry stakeholders, I saw a need for a digital transformation of how the industry integrates and works. I learned about many points in work processes that would benefit from innovative technology to make the work flow a lot easier and far less time-consuming. At first, I looked for systems and tools that would solve the problems I saw. I didn’t find one system that answered the integration and work flow needs. So, I found my co-founders, and we built it.
What has made you successful? What do you value?
I believe it is very important to have the “why” very clear for all involved with a project or company. Each person will have a slightly different answer to why they are doing this; hopefully there are no inappropriate reasons or ones that put others off balance. The why always comes out in the end; if you stick around long enough, it is always exposed. I like to start with putting the project or company on the table, for everyone. This is what we are doing, and this is why we are doing it. If you can get behind the why and pull together through the hard times, then great. If we are not a great fit, it is best to know now. I also find it very interesting to ask people why they are here, today, talking to me about joining our team. What is in their recent past that brought them here? Their answers give insights into their general motivations. A company is only as good as its people, so choosing well is key to any project or company’s success.
What are the most important aspects of a company’s culture? What principles do you believe in and how do you build this culture?
The most important aspects of a company’s culture are shown in the team’s attitude towards the work they are doing. The key word is team. For a team to really work well together, all team members need to feel that they are an integral part of the team. And, they all need to be involved and have a clear overview of what the team is working on and why. It is not always field specialists that come up with great new ideas or better ways of handling a problem. Sometimes the outside perspective holds greater clarity. For this, we work with radical transparency and radical honesty of opinion. We are doing this together.
What is the significance of innovative ideas in the company?
SyncLodge is based on innovation and positive impact ideas. There are many work-flow obstacles in every industry. We are focused on the entertainment industry, specifically music usage management for visual productions. There are a lot of obstacles to work flow in this sector of the industry. The industry needs innovative, yet logical and easily adaptable ideas. Many are working on it, and we are working with a lot of them. We outsource ideas. Over the last 4 plus years, we have sat down with hundreds of industry professionals and asked them what they needed, showing them what we had built, getting them to shoot down aspects they didn’t like, and listening to their suggestions. We are also working with other tech companies that are building tools that can work with SyncLodge. There are a lot of great thinkers out there coming up with great ideas for solving problems.
Give us your opinion on; do organizations rely heavily on individual heroics or team processes?
I don’t believe in individual heroics, nobody crosses a goal line on their own. It always takes a team. Any organization that has been successful has done so through the accomplishments of all members of the team. One person might deliver the message, but that message was made possible by the work of a team.
What are your responsibilities as the Founder/CEO of the company?
As SyncLodge is a startup, and the way we work as a team, all members of the team have a spectrum of responsibilities, but each has their core focus. Mine is growth. This includes industry networking, cross-company collaborations, establishing our presence in emerging territories, and guiding our development team.
What is the happiest part of your daily routine?
Showing the system to industry stakeholders and hearing their comments of amazement as to what SyncLodge can do.
What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time?
Listen, ask questions, and never assume you know what your team or clients need to perform at their best.
