In 1965, the British blues rock group The Yardbirds recorded a version of their single "Heart Full Of Soul" with a guest sitar player. It was the first known cross-pollination of a sitar with rock n' roll music.
It was never released.
The band found the version to be too thin. They replaced the sitar with a more conventional guitar line and released the version we know today. Shortly afterward, George Harrison, intrigued by the sitar, recorded his legendary part for The Beatles' "Norwegian Wood." Harrison and The Beatles, of course, are now remembered as introducing the sitar to rock music.
The Beatles weren't the first, but they were the quickest.
In business, you can't just be the best -- you need to be the quickest. That goes the other way, too -- you can't just be quick, you need to be good, too.
Recently, my company Jingle Punks was able to quickly react to and capitalize on a story in the business news. Our original thinking, combined with a lightning-fast turnaround, resulted in some of the best and far-reaching press we've ever received.
The whole thing came about as a result of a Business Insider piece about Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer not being happy with her company's hold music. One of our investors sent me the article and said, "You got this." Immediately, Jingle Punks swung into action, crafting a track within hours. In a spot of inspiration, we enlisted '90s hip-hop legend Snow to rap on the song, and, mere days later, had an amazing, and hilarious, custom piece of hold music for Yahoo!
The formula wasn't complicated. It was merely this: SPEED + INSPIRATION + FUN = RESULTS.
Not that difficult.
Following coverage by the author of that original BI piece, this adventure of ours was picked up by New York Post's Page Six, CNN Money, Fox News, Bloomberg Businessweek, the New York Daily News, and many more, including The Huffington Post.
Here's the video:
Needless to say, we've been amazed by the reaction. And not only that, it's been, in a business sense, life-affirming. This entire affair is proof that being quick is nothing to be scared of. There's no need for long email chains or bloated meetings -- just do something. Be fearless, be inspired, and have fun. You may be surprised where your inspiration takes you. For us, it was a duet with a hip-hop legend and news coverage across the business and tech world. Never did I think such a combination would be possible. But because we took that chance, I know now that it is.
Jared Gutstadt is the co-founder and co-CEO of Jingle Punks, a global licensing and commercial music production company based in New York. Follow him at @jinglejared and follow Jingle Punks at @jinglepunks, and on Facebook.