On Steven Dorns's Rise to Entrepreneurial Greatness

By Ernest Hamilton

Mar 10, 2021 11:10 AM EST

On Steven Dorns's Rise to Entrepreneurial Greatness (On Steven Dorns's Rise to Entrepreneurial Greatness ) (Credit: Getty Image)

Unlike other lifelong entrepreneurs, Steven Dorn is able to distinguish himself through his capabilities as a diverse cultural curator. Dorn is always finding markets to learn about and new projects to execute. 

Engaging with new ideas, projects, people, companies, and movements, it should come as no surprise that Dorn has become a successful entrepreneur and investor in the music, entertainment, film, and sports industries. Beyond growing his book of business, Dorn has definitely made his name and left a mark in these spaces as well due to his unique style and his ability to network and make relationships. People love to work with Dorn, time and time again, precisely because of his industry know-how, his unconventional tactics, and his deep network. 

Dorn got his first big entrepreneurial break in the music industry after starting out as a talent scout; Dorn is the founder of XYZ Media, a music management and VC firm. XYZ Media has built a trusted name in the industry due to their strong track record of both discovering and developing unknown musical talent as well as Dorn and XYZ media work with new artists as well as consulting jobs with established artists, athletes, celebrities, and high-net worth traditional business people. Further, XYZ Media, due to Dorn's connections, are known for their ability to create hyper-specific, unique, and mutually profitable partnerships between his artists and strategic partners. Speaking of that conventional style, XYZ Media has never developed any marketing collateral. Utilizing his reputation and contacts, Dorn is able to attract the right partners, stay original, and build a unique brand by solely relying on word-of-mouth marketing and collaborative relationships. This is not a risk many have the luxury of or the stomach to take. Dorn's innovative style recently landed him a feature in Forbes

Dorn and XYZ Media's track record speaks for itself as they were integral to the discovery and development of Grammy-nominated R&B star Bryson Tiller's career as well as to the careers of new R&B star Pink Sweat$ and international act Yo Trane. 

Dorn believes he has been able to find success with XYZ Media's various projects across the music, film, and sports industries partially because of his self-awareness to double down on the things he loves. Dorn is a strong proponent of following one's passion; he also vehemently believes this is the most sound tactic to find success, even if it seems counterintuitive. 

More recently. Dorn and his Couch King Productions venture recently produced a docu-series titled, "Tiger Kingdom '' in order to emphasize the truth about Doc Antle's positive work in the industry as well as capture some of the existing energy surrounding Netflix's original docu-series Dorn's docu-series is garnering positive press with features in publications such as People, Haute Living, Forbes India, Yahoo Finance, People, Elite Daily, and more.

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