Perfect Pitch: Ricky Anderson

Updated: Sep 25

Founder, Musician

Current City: Indianapolis, Indiana

Current Job and Entrepreneurial Focus: I started a company called Soundspace which originally was a single rehearsal/recording space in Indianapolis. We shared the space with custom software which let us go 24/7 staffless with access management. Soon, we realized we invented an easier method to share spaces with booking, billing, and access management. Now, I'm focused on B2B SaaS to create one large passport for creators of all kinds to access the spaces they need, whether that is business launching office space, a podcast room, or a big name recording studio.

Notable Prior Jobs: I've been a researcher in Neuroscience and Biotechnology, Aerospace Engineering, and Design Thinking, working primarily in small business and startup consulting with a focus on ProForma projections to help businesses with data-informed decisions on where and how to grow. I work at a company called Forecastr which specializes in a software to make this process much easier. Also, I've founded or cofounded several companies including a Biogasification company in California.

When I Started Performing: I started piano lessons when I was only 6 years old. I started guitar just a little while after that when I broke my arm and wanted to switch to guitar. My first notable performance was at a coffee shop in high school with a band I founded.

Performing Arts Background: I went to Berklee College of Music for a summer semester before pursuing science. Prior to that, I ran a high school rock band for four years where we played live on the radio and produced an album of our own. I also was second chair in the state Jazz Band and played consistently with the marching band in high school as well.

How did your performing arts background supercharge your entrepreneurship?

I spent much of my time in my younger years developing my performances and mastering small intricate pieces of music. In particular, I played classical-style guitar with many moving pieces that created a single-instrument harmonization, requiring persistence to create something great. Performance taught me courage and challenged me to consistently face my fears while developing something intricate and difficult to express. These mindsets and feelings culminated ultimately in an entrepreneurial career of building and harmonizing team members, an increased empathetic ability to read a crowd or an investor, and persistence through constant and total rejection before finding the right solution or teammate. At the time, my passion and mindset took me to the halls of Berklee in Boston, MA.

After seeing Berklee's systems for creative support and having gone to Stanford's d.School for a Design Thinking fellowship, my current work was dramatically impacted by the creative process I learned to embrace. I've been able to combine my love of Design Thinking with my love of the Scientific Method to run a startup. In addition, my startup uses the principles of my time at both schools to help create a more creatively impactful environment for anyone to share space effectively. If I hadn't had the rigors of performance to pull me along, a band of my own that ran very much like a startup business in itself, and a constant desire to improve my abilities, I wouldn't have made it to where I am today.

Favorite Performer: Tommy Emmanuel