By Joshua Taylor

Josh in his natural habitat

It’s not everyday you get the chance to work with your musical idols.

However, this summer exactly that happened. I stumbled upon the chance to join an instrument design startup with a small group of amazing people who had a potentially groundbreaking concept. Thanks to Dan Harple and his company Shamrock Ventures I was brought into the fold about a month ago and have been working with the team since.

I am going into my final two semesters as a Music Production and Engineering major and whilst it’s exciting to contemplate the open water ahead it’s also with a predictable air of reluctance that I head towards the end of my studies. The unique and fascinating people Berklee introduces you to is, in my opinion, the college’s greatest offering and my current Ambassadors internship with ICE is the perfect example of this.
If someone had told me a year ago I would be sitting in a room with Victor Wooten, Steve Bailey and world renowned entrepreneur Dan Harple discussing instrument design I would not have believed a word of it – and yet here we are. I can’t pretend to be a mover and shaker in the company but I have been privileged to be given a freedom of rein and responsibility by Dan that most internships don’t allow for.
The small size of the team and diverse skill sets on board have made it a whirlwind experience of shock, learn, repeat. The high expectations of professionalism and prior understanding are something that college does not prepare you for. The smallest things such as noting down niche technical terms during a meeting to look up later or speaking to each member of the team about their role have been integral to keep me abreast of a project which has many moving parts.
I’m in the privileged position of potentially seeing a startup go from inception to launch from the inside. I’m sure we have all been to those talks or heard the stories where a company’s founder explains how she got the idea and then brushes over the integral phase in between inception and success. Well I’m currently living that phase and can’t wait to see how it pans out!
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